A multiple perspective analysis of schizophrenics' symptoms and community functioning.

The present investigation examined the extent of agreement among schizophrenic clients, hospital clinicians, and independent evaluators' views of the client's symptoms and community functioning status using the Symptom Checklist-90, the Denver Community Mental Health Questionnaire, and the Personal Adjustment and Role Skills Inventory. The results suggest there is significant agreement among viewpoints and that this finding is generalizable across community assessment instruments. The average shared variance among the three perspectives across the three instruments was .68. The estimates of shared variance between the SCL-90, the DCMHQ, and the PARS ranged from .54 to .85, indicating these outcome instruments measure a common phenomenon or share significant method variance. The previously assumed necessity of multiple perspective assessment as the only valid approach is challenged.