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E-Motional Training®: Pilot study on a novel online training program on social cognition for patients with schizophrenia.

ABSTRACT: Patients with schizophrenia have deficits in social cognition (SC), a construct that includes emotion perception (EP), social perception (SP), theory of mind (ToM) and attributive style (AS). The aim of our study was to assess the applicability, identify potential problems and obtain preliminary data on the efficacy of a new online training program on SC called e-Motional Training (ET®), which can be remotely administered and remotely supervised by a clinician.A pre/post intervention pilot study was conducted with 21 patients with schizophrenia in the healthcare area of Ourense, Spain (12 patients were assigned to the intervention group and 9 in the control group). The control group received standard treatment (TAU) (occupational therapy and leisure group). The intervention group received TAU plus 12 sessions (1 hour per week) with ET® (including training modules on emotional perception and a short animated cartoon for ToM and AS training, including automated metacognitive feedback). Endpoints: EP (Ekman 60 Faces Test), ToM (Hinting Task, Faux Pas, Happé), AS (Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire).ET® was shown to be an understandable, viable and pleasant program for the participants. After the intervention, statistically significant data (p < 0.05) were obtained for the EP, ToM and AS variables.ET® enables self-training in SC and online follow-up by the therapist, thereby covering the lack of online intervention instruments validated for patients with SC deficits. Our preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of ET® and its possible efficacy in improving emotion recognition, ToM and AS.

SUBMITTER: Vazquez-Campo M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5506727 | biostudies-other | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:Individuals with schizophrenia have functionally significant deficits in automatic and controlled social cognition, but no currently available pharmacologic treatments reduce these deficits. The neuropeptide oxytocin has multiple prosocial effects when administered intranasally in humans and there is growing interest in its therapeutic potential in schizophrenia.We administered 40 IU of oxytocin and saline placebo intranasally to 29 male subjects with schizophrenia and 31 age-matched, healthy controls in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. Social cognition was assessed with The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT) and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). We examined the effects of oxytocin administration on automatic social cognition (the ability to rapidly interpret and understand emotional cues from the voice, face, and body); controlled social cognition (the ability to comprehend indirectly expressed emotions, thoughts, and intentions through complex deliberations over longer time periods); and a control task (the ability to comprehend truthful dialog and perform general task procedures) in individuals with and without schizophrenia using mixed factorial analysis of variance models.Patients with schizophrenia showed significant impairments in automatic and controlled social cognition compared to healthy controls, and administration of oxytocin significantly improved their controlled, but not automatic, social cognition, F(1, 58)=8.75; p=0.004. Conversely, oxytocin administration had limited effects on social cognition in healthy participants. Patients and controls performed equally well and there were no effects of oxytocin administration on the control task.Intact social cognitive abilities are associated with better functional outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia. Our data highlight the potentially complex effects of oxytocin on some but not all aspects of social cognition, and support the exploration of intranasal oxytocin as a potential adjunct treatment to improve controlled social cognition in schizophrenia.

Project description:BackgroundThe limitations associated with antipsychotics in early-onset schizophrenia patients have stimulated more interest in psychological interventions in this population. Nevertheless, the isolated psychosocial interventions are unrealistic in a treatment success covering the complex array of symptoms, and the psychosocial interventions could be an adjunct treatment to the pharmacological treatment. It is necessary to find the benefits of psychological interventions with limited and targeted use of antipsychotics. Social cognition and interaction training (SCIT) was a program for social cognitive rehabilitation in adult schizophrenia. However, it is unclear how generalizable this is to early-onset patients.MethodsThe current study tested this hypothesis that combined SCIT and paliperidone was superior to paliperidone alone in treating early-onset schizophrenia patients on cognitive, functional, and symptom outcomes. Two hundred eight inpatients with schizophrenia aged 13 to 17 years old participated in a 24-week work intervention program. Patients completed a battery of measures administered at a pre-SCIT intervention baseline, 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks post-SCIT, respectively.ResultsSCIT had significant added benefits above paliperidone for the speed of processing, attention/vigilance, and social cognition of the Chinese version of MATRICS consensus cognitive battery (MCCB) domains (p<0.05). The following logistic regression analysis on the exploration of the influential factors also confirmed the effects of SCIT. However, combined SCIT and paliperidone intervention had a null impact on social functioning and symptomatology.ConclusionsThe present study provides the first evidence that combined SCIT and paliperidone intervention has the potential to improve cognitive functions for the early-onset schizophrenia patients. The findings in the current study are suggestive of the extreme importance of SCIT as an adjunctive treatment in early-onset schizophrenia patients.

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E-Motional Training®: Pilot study on a novel online training program on social cognition for patients with schizophrenia.

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