Efficacy of Metacognitive Training in a Chilean Sample of People with Schizophrenia

Abstract

IntroductionMoritz et al.’s metacognitive training (MCT), a new development of cognitive therapy, is a manualised group training programme, designed to correct cognitive biases involved in the formation and maintenance of psychotic symptoms, especially delusions. We report on the efficacy of MCT in a Chilean sample of people with schizophrenia. Methods50 outpatients from the Hospital Del Salvador in Valparaíso, Chile, were randomly assigned to the intervention group that received MCT or the control group that only received treatment as usual (TAU). Subjects were assessed at the beginning and end of the study with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Cognitive Biases Questionnaire for Psychosis (CBQ-P) and Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS). ResultsGreater statistically significant improvements were recorded in the MCT group, both in symptoms and cognitive biases and in cognitive insight, than in the control group. When comparing both groups, significant results in favor of MCT were only observed in positive symptoms. ConclusionsThe results of this study suggest MCT is superior to TAU in treating positive symptoms. It was not possible to demonstrate its superiority in improving cognitive biases and cognitive insight.