Social functioning as an outcome variable in family interventions with schizophrenic patients has been a relatively neglected area. The requirements of a scale of social functioning to measure the efficacy of family interventions include: the measurement of skill/behaviour relevant to the impairments and the demography of this group; the ability to yield considerable information with an economy of clinical time; and the establishment of 'comparative' need through comparison between subscales and with appropriate reference groups. Results from three samples show that the Social Functioning Scale is reliable, valid, sensitive and responsive to change.

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The impact of the CT intervention extended beyond positive symptoms to include insight, dysphoria and "low level' psychotic thinking. Nevertheless this kind of "clinical' recovery required a median of 20 weeks to complete. Implications for clinical models of acute care are discussed.

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CT appears to be a potent adjunct to pharmacotherapy and standard care for acute psychosis. Issues concerning internal and external validity of the study and opportunities for further research are discussed.