title: Evaluating the Psychometric Quality of Social Skills Measures: A Systematic Review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Impairments in social functioning are associated with an array of adverse outcomes. Social skills measures are commonly used by health professionals to assess and plan the treatment of social skills difficulties. There is a need to comprehensively evaluate the quality of psychometric properties reported across these measures to guide assessment and treatment planning.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To conduct a systematic review of the literature on the psychometric properties of social skills and behaviours measures for both children and adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic search was performed using four electronic databases: CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase and Pubmed; the Health and Psychosocial Instruments database; and grey literature using PsycExtra and Google Scholar. The psychometric properties of the social skills measures were evaluated against the COSMIN taxonomy of measurement properties using pre-set psychometric criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-Six studies and nine manuals were included to assess the psychometric properties of thirteen social skills measures that met the inclusion criteria. Most measures obtained excellent overall methodological quality scores for internal consistency and reliability. However, eight measures did not report measurement error, nine measures did not report cross-cultural validity and eleven measures did not report criterion validity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The overall quality of the psychometric properties of most measures was satisfactory. The SSBS-2, HCSBS and PKBS-2 were the three measures with the most robust evidence of sound psychometric quality in at least seven of the eight psychometric properties that were appraised. A universal working definition of social functioning as an overarching construct is recommended. There is a need for ongoing research in the area of the psychometric properties of social skills and behaviours instruments.
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Reinie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cordier
authors.affiliation: College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Renée
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Speyer
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Yu-Wei
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Allied Health, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wilkes-Gillan
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University-Peninsula Campus, Frankston, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Ted
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: School of Allied Health, Australian Catholic University, St Patricks Campus, Fitzroy, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bourke-Taylor
authors.affiliation: College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Doma
authors.affiliation: College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leicht
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012919:Social Behavior; D066107:Social Skills; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires