Personal and Social Performance (PSP) scale for patients with schizophrenia: translation to Portuguese, cross-cultural adaptation and interrater reliability

INTRODUCTION: Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder associated with impairment in social functioning. The most widely used scale to measure social functioning is the GAF (Global Assessment of Functioning), but it has the disadvantage of measuring at the same time symptoms and functioning, as described in its anchors. OBJECTIVES:Translation and cultural adaptation of the PSP, proposing a final version in Portuguese for use in Brazil. METHODS: We performed five steps: 1) translation; 2) back translation; 3) formal assessment of semantic equivalence; 4) debriefing; 5) analysis by experts. Interrater reliability (Intraclass correlation, ICC) between two raters was also measured. RESULTS: The final version was applied by two independent investigators in 18 adults with schizophrenia (DSM-IV-TR). The interrater reliability (ICC) was 0.812 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The translation and adaptation of the PSP had an adequate level of semantic equivalence between the Portuguese version and the original English version. There were no difficulties related to understanding the content expressed in the translated texts and terms. Its application was easy and it showed a good interrater reliability. The PSP is a valid instrument for the measurement of personal and social functioning in schizophrenia.

STATE INSTITUTIONS, POWER, AND SOCIAL NETWORKS IN BRAZILIAN URBAN POLICIES

A large historiographic tradition has studied the Brazilian state, yet we know relatively little about its internal dynamics and particularities. The role of informal, personal, and unintentional ties has remained underexplored in most policy network studies, mainly because of the pluralist origin of that tradition. It is possible to use network analysis to expand this knowledge by developing mesolevel analysis of those processes. This article proposes an analytical framework for studying networks inside policy communities. This framework considers the stable and resilient patterns that characterize state institutions, especially in contexts of low institutionalization, particularly those found in Latin America and Brazil. The article builds on research on urban policies in Brazil to suggest that networks made of institutional and personal ties structure state organizations internally and insert them,into broader political scenarios. These networks, which I call state fabric, frame politics, influence public policies, and introduce more stability and predictability than the majority of the literature usually considers. They also form a specific power resource-positional power, associated with the positions that political actors occupy-that influences politics inside and around the state.