Assessment of independent living skills for psychotic patients. Further validity and reliability.

It is well known that psychotic patients have severe social and life-skill deficits. Psychiatric rehabilitation programs are designed to teach these skills to patients. Before implementing such a program, patient deficits should be evaluated with reliable measures. The present study assessed the psychometric properties of the French version of the "Independent Living Skills Survey" (ILSS) developed by Wallace, Kochanowicz and Wallace (Wallace C J, Kochanowicz N, Wallace J [1985] Independent living skills survey. Unpublished manuscript, Mental Health Clinical Research Center for the Study of Schizophrenia, West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center, Rehabilitation Medicine Service [Brentwood Division], Los Angeles, CA). Although widely used, the patient version of this scale has unknown psychometric properties. The ILSS was composed of 75 items, rated as present or absent and distributed in 10 scales. The French version was administered to 145 patients with a psychotic diagnosis who were living in the community. All scales had very good psychometric qualities with the exception of the job-maintenance scale. The test-retest reliability varied from .48 to .85, and alpha coefficients were good for seven of the nine scales. Various aspects of construct validity were explored. The scales discriminated between patients as a function of their subgroups, sex, and diagnosis. Concurrent validity confirmed the specificity of the ILSS dimensions. Factor analysis revealed two factors, one for basic skills and one representing higher order skills. Recommendations for future development of the ILSS are proposed.