Abstract: Objective · To investigate the effect of social skills training on the improvement of sociability and social adaptability of outpatients with schizophrenia. Methods · Thirty-eight cases of patients met ICD-10 diagnostic criteria received social skills training once a week for 12 weeks; Social Skills Checklist (SSC) and Social Adaptive Functioning Evaluation (SAFE) were conducted before and after the training assessment respectively. The patients were divided into different groups according to the levels of mental disability based on Social Disability Screening Schedule (SDSS) before training, and the effect of social skills training were compared among the groups. Results · The scores on conversation, conflict resolution and build relationships ability and total scores in SSC decreased after social skills training (P0.000 in all) . The scores on basic life skills, advanced life skills, communication skills and social skills, as well as the total score in SAFE decreased after training (PConclusion · Social skills training can effectively improve the social skills and social adaptability of outpatients with schizophrenia.

Key words: schizophrenia, social skills training, social skills, social adaptive function