Validity and reliability of a questionnaire to assess social skills in traumatic brain injury: a preliminary study

Objective: To describe the reliability and validity of a new measure, the Social Skills Questionnaire for Traumatic Brain Injury (SSQ-TBI). Methods: Fifty-one adults with severe TBI completed the SSQ-TBI questionnaire. Scores were compared to informant- and self-report on questionnaires addressing frontal lobe mediated behaviour, as well as performance on an objective measure of social cognition and neuropsychological tasks, in order to provide evidence of concurrent, divergent and predictive validity. Results: Internal consistency was excellent at α = 0.90. Convergent validity was good, with informant ratings on the SSQ-TBI significantly correlated with Neuropsychiatric Inventory Disinhibition sub-scales (r = 0.50–63), the Current Behaviour Scale (r = 0.39–0.48) and Frontal Systems Behaviour Scale (r = 0.60–0.83). However, no relationship was seen with an objective measure of social skills or neuropsychological tasks of disinhibition. There was a significant relationship with real-world psychosocial outcomes on the Sydney Psychosocial Reintegration Scale-2 (r = –0.38––0.69) Conclusions: This study provides preliminary findings of good internal consistency and convergent and predictive validity of a social skills questionnaire adapted to be appropriate for individuals with TBI. Further assessment of psychometric properties such as test–re-test reliability and factor structure is warranted.