The Effect of an Emotion Recognition and Expression Program on the Alexithymia, Emotion Expression Skills and Positive and Negative Symptoms of Patients with Schizophrenia in a Community Mental Health Center

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effect of an emotion recognition and expression program (EREP) on the alexithymia, emotion expression skills and positive and negative symptoms of patients with schizophrenia. The study had a non-randomized, quasi-experimental design including a pretest, post-test, and follow-up test. It was conducted with 36 patients with schizophrenia (n = 18 intervention group, n = 18 control group) who regularly visited a Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) in Türkiye and participated voluntarily. The EREP was applied to the intervention group for eight weeks. "Personal Information Form", "Emotion Expression Scale (EES)", "Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS)", and "Positive Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)" were applied to all participants in the pretest, post-test, and follow-up test. The follow-up test was applied one month after the end of the sessions. Number, percentage, chi-square test, and repeated measures analysis of variance were used for data evaluation. In the total alexithymia score, there was a significant difference in the group interaction by time in the intervention group compared to the control group. In terms of total alexithymia score, the post-test and follow-up test mean scores of the intervention group were lower than the control group (p < 0.05; η2 = 0.122). There was a significant time*group interaction in the positive emotion subscale of the EES (p < 0.05; η2 = 0.121). The findings of our study indicated that the EREP had a positive effect on the alexithymia scores of patients with schizophrenia. We found that the EREP used in our study contributed to the reduction of alexithymia levels in patients with schizophrenia.