Abstract
Social cognition is a promising treatment target in schizophrenia because of its close link to social functioning impairment. Social Cognition and Interaction Training (SCIT) has received support in efficacy trials, but its effectiveness in routine clinical care and in non-English speaking countries, including Portugal is not well established. The present study aimed to contribute to study the effectiveness of the Portuguese version of SCIT in routine care in Portugal. In the present quasi-experimental study, 35 outpatients with schizophrenia received either treatment as usual (TAU) (n = 16) or TAU plus SCIT (n = 19). Participants completed the Hinting task, the Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire-Ambiguous items (AIHQ-A), and two measures of social functioning at baseline and after 24 weeks of treatment. On the Hinting task, both groups showed improvements, with a larger effect size in the SCIT group. On the AIHQ, the SCIT group showed a trend level advantage, which became significant when considering only patients with elevated baseline bias scores. The SCIT group showed strong improvements relative to the TAU group in social skill performance but no change in global social functioning. Overall, this study provides initial support for the feasibility and potential effectiveness of SCIT in community settings in Portugal.
Highlights
IntroductionL. Roberts medication [1] [2] and are only modestly improved by psychological interventions [3]
T-tests revealed that the Social Cognition and Interaction Training (SCIT) and treatment as usual (TAU) groups did not differ significantly on any demographic variables or any baseline symptomatology, social cognition or social functioning variables
We hypothesized that community-dwelling people with schizophrenia who received a Portuguese version of SCIT administered by community clinicians would experience improved social cognition and social functioning relative to a TAU group
Summary
L. Roberts medication [1] [2] and are only modestly improved by psychological interventions [3]. Social cognition, which refers to the mental operations underlying social interaction [4], is seen as a promising treatment target for improving social functioning. Social cognitive domains, including Theory of Mind and attributional style, are correlated with social functioning and have been shown to be responsive to treatment intervention in schizophrenia [5] [6] [7]
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