The Personal Recovery Scale for Individuals With Schizophrenia in Thailand: Development and Psychometric Properties

Personal recovery among individuals with schizophrenia reflects a subjective perception of how much individuals regain purpose and meaning in their lives despite disabilities. Recovery-oriented care centres on empowerment for individuals acquiring or regaining a capacity to work, manage resources, rebuild meaningful social interactions and community and restore hope and well-being. In Thailand, healthcare providers would benefit from a conceptually-based instrument to evaluate personal recovery. This cross-sectional study, guided by the CHIME framework, used a methodological and developmental design to construct and test an instrument assessing the personal recovery of community-dwelling Thai individuals with schizophrenia. A total of 521 outpatients from five northeastern provinces in Thailand participated from March 2023 through January 2025, completing both the 17-item Personal Recovery Scale and the Herth Hope Index. Results showed that less than 10% of participants lived alone, while a majority lived with their parents, a spouse, or members of an extended family. A moderate correlation between the two scales supported convergent validity (r = 0.686, p < 0.001). Principal axis factoring with a Promax rotation identified three components of recovery: (i) self-confidence in living day-to-day, (ii) self-management of daily activities and (iii) social support sustains daily living. With Cronbach's alpha at 0.925 and McDonald's omega at 0.923, the Personal Recovery Scale exhibits strong reliability. Although living independently is often recognised as a criterion of recovery, individuals in Thai society are more likely to live in extended family networks. Being independent may be more appropriate than living independently and is measured by achieving self-confidence to live well and the ability to self-manage daily activities. The Personal Recovery Scale demonstrates promising validity and reliability, indicating its potential value in assessing the multifaceted concept of personal recovery among Thai individuals with schizophrenia.