TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing social networks in patients with psychotic disorders
T2 - A systematic review of instruments
AU - Siette, Joyce
AU - Gulea, Claudia
AU - Priebe, Stefan
N1 - Copyright the Author(s) 2015. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.
PY - 2015/12/1
Y1 - 2015/12/1
N2 - Background Evidence suggests that social networks of patients with psychotic disorders influence symptoms, quality of life and treatment outcomes. It is therefore important to assess social networks for which appropriate and preferably established instruments should be used. Aims To identify instruments assessing social networks in studies of patients with psychotic disorders and explore their properties. Method A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted to identify studies that used a measure of social networks in patients with psychotic disorders. Results Eight instruments were identified, all of which had been developed before 1991. They have been used in 65 studies (total N of patients = 8,522). They assess one or more aspects of social networks such as their size, structure, dimensionality and quality. Most instruments have various shortcomings, including questionable inter-rater and test-retest reliability. Conclusions The assessment of social networks in patients with psychotic disorders is characterized by a variety of approaches which may reflect the complexity of the construct. Further research on social networks in patients with psychotic disorders would benefit from advanced and more precise instruments using comparable definitions of and timescales for social networks across studies.
AB - Background Evidence suggests that social networks of patients with psychotic disorders influence symptoms, quality of life and treatment outcomes. It is therefore important to assess social networks for which appropriate and preferably established instruments should be used. Aims To identify instruments assessing social networks in studies of patients with psychotic disorders and explore their properties. Method A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted to identify studies that used a measure of social networks in patients with psychotic disorders. Results Eight instruments were identified, all of which had been developed before 1991. They have been used in 65 studies (total N of patients = 8,522). They assess one or more aspects of social networks such as their size, structure, dimensionality and quality. Most instruments have various shortcomings, including questionable inter-rater and test-retest reliability. Conclusions The assessment of social networks in patients with psychotic disorders is characterized by a variety of approaches which may reflect the complexity of the construct. Further research on social networks in patients with psychotic disorders would benefit from advanced and more precise instruments using comparable definitions of and timescales for social networks across studies.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84957589608&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0145250
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0145250
M3 - Review article
VL - 10
SP - 1
EP - 13
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 12
M1 - e0145250
ER -