Design, development and use of a standardized interview to assess social maladjustment and dysfunction in community studies.

A standardized social interview, designed to assess social maladjustment and dysfunction is described. The interview is composed of items grouped under the 3 headings of Material conditions, Social management and Satisfaction. Ratings are made on a 4-point scale by interviewers standardized in its use. The interview, which takes approximately 45 minutes to administer, covers housing, finance, occupation, social and leisure activities, and relationships with significant individuals in the subject's life. The inter-rater reliability is assessed and principal component analyses performed, and the results of these are provided and dicussed. Various methods of scoring are examined and the use of the schedule in a number of studies in the setting of general practice is described.