Objective The study was conducted to investigate the effect of social skills training on subjective life satisfaction in long-term hospitalized patients with chronic schizophrenia.Methods A total of 82 cases with chronic schizophrenia were divided into skills training group (40 cases) and control group (42 cases).Patients in training group were offered language training, role training and vocational skills training for 12 months in total.Before and after treatment, Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS), Global Assessment Scale (GAS), Activity of Daily Living (ADL) Scale, Social Support Perception Inventory (SSPI), Insight and Attitude Assessment Questionnaire (ITAQ), Subjective Quality of Life Scale (SQLS), as well as WHO Quality of Life Scale in Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to assess the patients of two groups.Results After treatment, PANSS total score in training group was significantly lower than that in control one (t=0.44, P<0.01), and scores of the negative symptoms and general pathological symptoms were significantly lower in training group than those in control one (t=0.64, P<0.01 and t=0.72, P<0.01, respectively).GAS, ADL, SSPI and ITAQ scored better in the training group than in the control one, with a statistically significant difference (t=2.90, P<0.01; t=2.39, P<0.05; t=2.98, P<0.01; and t=3.37, P<0.01, respectively).SQLS score was significantly lower in the training group than that in control one (t=10.66, P<0.01), and WHOQOL-BREF score was significantly higher in the training group than that in the control one (t=3.94, P<0.01).Conclusion Social skills training can effectively improve subjective satisfactions of the long-terra hospitalized patients with chronic schizophrenia. Key words: Chronic disease; Schizophrenia; Rehabilitation; Social skills training