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Heimier's Scale of Social Functioning has been popular with probation practitioners as a method of engaging clients in deciding if and what they wish to change. The author reviews the appeal and performance of Heimler's insights.

Measures of socral functioning are gaining increasing attention as important outcome criteria in evaluation of psychiatric treatment. This article reviews approaches to conceptualization and measurement of social functioning in mental health treatment outcome evaluation, and enumerates several reasons why their contribution to outcome research is valuable. The value of these measures, however, is jeopardized by lack of attention to problems posed by conceptual and psychometric issues associated with current measures, and by the social context in which the measures are embedded. Three alternative directions to take in the search for solutions are presented

There is a high level of comorbidity of personality disorders with major depression. Patients who suffer from both depression and an axis II disorder are, in general, more severely ill and ill for longer periods. The presence of personality disorders also has a negative influence on
the social functioning of depressed patients, and it has emerged that certain demographic characteristics are present to a significant extent. This article presents the results of a study of 244 out-patients suffering from major depression. The issues addressed were: Firstly, which axis II
disorders are found in this group and are there correlations with the demographic characteristics? Secondly, is there a relationship between individual axis II disorders and the severity of the depression and social functioning? It emerges that 60% of the patients with a
Hamilton score of at least 14 have one or more axis II disorders according to the VKP self-report, and that 30% have three or more, with more than 50% in cluster C. It was found also that the schizoid and borderline personality disorders in particular are significantly linked
to several demographic characteristics. The patients here are more often single and those with a lower level of education. Using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, little significant correlation was found between the presence of an axis II disorder and the severity of the depression. A
significant difference was found using the Symptom Check List -90. In social functioning, the citizen role, the social role and the family role turn out to be correlated most significantly, as are the total number of impairments. In addition, the highest correlation is found particularly in
cluster C, and the number of axis II disorders is almost always significantly related to the individual roles. The discussion turns to the influence of the measuring instruments used and to the composition of the population, as well as the clinical relevance of the diagnosis of axis II disorders
and social functioning in patients with a major depression.

Background: We previously noted increased shyness in stable community outpatients with schizophrenia compared to healthy controls and that shyness may be a risk factor for social functioning impairment in this population (Goldberg & Schmidt, 2001). Aims: We attempted to replicate and extend these findings by comparing the use of a brief trait measure of shyness and sociability (SS; Cheek, 1983; Cheek & Buss, 1981) with the longer Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI; Cloninger, Przybeck, Svrakic, & Wetzel, 1994) used traditionally in work to measure personality dimensions in this population. Methods: A group of stable outpatients with schizophrenia ( n = 41) and healthy controls ( n = 41) matched on age and gender were compared on the SS and TCI measures. Patients were assessed on clinical symptoms using the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) and on social functioning measures using a Quality of Life Scale (QLS). Results: Patients reported significantly higher shyness, retrospective inhibition and harm avoidance, and lower novelty seeking, self-directedness and cooperativeness than healthy adults, replicating previous findings. Shyness and sociability were related to conceptually linked dimensional sub-scales of the TCI and were predictive of social functioning in the patient group. Importantly, scores on these measures were unrelated to symptom profiles and explained additional variance in social functioning beyond clinical symptoms. Conclusions: These findings suggest that individual differences in trait shyness and sociability may influence social functioning in stable outpatients with schizophrenia. The results also support the use of the brief trait measures of shyness and sociability in this population.

Abstract
Hoarding is associated with problems engaging in social activities,
lower social support, increased isolation and poses substantial challenges
to family functioning. The aim of this investigation was to explore the
relationship between hoarding severity and family and social functioning
variables in 60 treatment-seeking adults with hoarding disorder (HD).
Participants completed a battery of self-report measures during a baseline
assessment completed prior to treatment. Forty-seven percent of participants
reported they live alone. Forty-eight percent of participants reported that
family and friends never visit them in their home, and 33% indicated they
never had visitors to their home, not even service workers or repair people.
Twelve percent of participants indicated they never visit with family or
friends outside of their home; however, 55% of participants endorsed phoning
family or friends more than 9 times each month. Increased clutter and
hoarding severity was associated with a lower frequency of family and
friends visiting in the home. Family competence and conflict were both
positively associated with hoarding severity. Our results shed light on
family and social impairment in HD and their relationship with symptom
severity; however, additional research should examine social dysfunction
among non-treatment-seeking individuals who may be more impaired or
isolated.