The relationship between social functioning and psychiatric symptomatology in primary care

Summary The relationship between social functioning measured by an interview schedule, psychiatric symptoms, alcohol abuse and personality was examined in 171 patients with conspicuous psychiatric morbidity seen in primary care. Social functioning was significantly better in older patients and in those with no alcohol abuse or personality disorder. A close relationship was shown between social functioning and psychiatric diagnosis, social impairment increasing with severity of disorder. This relationship was not obtained for depressive disorders in which social functioning was similar across all diagnostic groups. There was a high correlation between social functioning score and total psychiatric symptomatology, although social functioning appeared to be a more important determinant of referral to psychiatric services than Present State Examination (PSE) total score. The results support the view that social functioning measures can convey additional useful information to that of symptom measures, and might be of use in a multiaxial classification.