Benefits of social cognitive skills training within routine community mental health services: Evidence from a non-randomized parallel controlled study.

Although social cognitive impairments are evident in patients with schizophrenia across many cultures, psychosocial interventions are less used in Eastern countries. Despite a growing emphasis on community care in mental health services in Eastern countries, the synergistic effects of social cognitive intervention strategies on routine community mental health services are not well documented. This study aimed to adapt a group-based social cognitive skills training (SCST) program for use in a Korean context and evaluate its feasibility and preliminary effects among community-dwelling individuals with schizophrenia. Forty-seven patients were assigned to either the SCST + treatment as usual (TAU) group (n = 21) or the TAU only group (n = 24). Participants completed tasks to assess social cognition, social functioning, neurocognition, and psychiatric symptoms before and after treatment. Over a period of approximately 12 weeks, drop-out rates were comparably low in both groups, and the attendance rates for the SCST program were high (85.7 %, mean sessions attended = 20.56/24 sessions). The SCST + TAU group demonstrated significant improvements in facial affect recognition, social functioning, and psychiatric symptoms compared to the TAU only group. A non-significant trend in theory of mind was observed, along with no improvements in social perception and neurocognition. The adapted version of the SCST program is feasible for implementation and demonstrates promise for enhancing social cognition and functioning in Korean outpatients with schizophrenia.

Efficacy of the Social Cognition Training Program in a sample of schizophrenic outpatients.

Objective: Social cognition is recognized to be a deficit in individuals suffering from schizophrenia. Numerous studies have explored the relationship between social cognition and social functioning in outpatients with schizophrenia through the use of different social cognition training programs. This study examines the efficacy of the Social Cognition Training Program (PECS in Spanish) in adults with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Methods: Data were derived from a sample of 44 non-hospitalized adult patients, who presented with a DSM-IV-R Axis I diagnosis of schizophrenia, and 39 healthy controls. Patients were divided into an experimental group and a control task group, that received cognitive training. Healthy controls did not receive any treatment. Sociodemographic and clinic variables correlates were computed. 2-way ANOVA was conducted to examine differences between groups in pre and post-treatment measures. Intragroup differences were explores using the paired-samples t-test. Results: At the end of the training, patients in the experimental group showed a higher performance compared to patients in the control task group, in the Hinting Task Test and in the emotion recognition of sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. Conclusions: The PECS proved to be effective in the improvement of some areas of theory of mind and emotion recognition, in outpatients with schizophrenia. The PECS is one of the first programs developed in Spanish to train social cognition, and the data obtained support the importance of expand the social cognition programs to non-English language samples.

Social cognition and interaction training for patients with stable schizophrenia in Chinese community settings.

Accumulated evidence suggests that Social Cognition and Interaction Training (SCIT) is associated with improved performance in social cognition and social skills in patients diagnosed with psychotic disorders. The current study examined the clinical utility of SCIT in patients with schizophrenia in Chinese community settings. Adults with stable schizophrenia were recruited from local community health institutions, and were randomly assigned to SCIT group (n = 22) or a waiting-list control group (n = 17). The SCIT group received the SCIT intervention plus treatment-as-usual, whereas the waiting-list group received only treatment-as-usual during the period of the study. All patients were administered the Chinese versions of the Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP), Face Emotion Identification Task (FEIT), Eyes task, and Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) at baseline of the SCIT treatment period and at follow-up, 6 months after completion of the 20-week treatment period. Patients in SCIT group showed a significant improvement in the domains of emotion perception, theory of mind, attributional style, and social functioning compared to those in waiting-list group. Findings indicate that SCIT is a feasible and promising method for improving social cognition and social functioning among Chinese outpatients with stable schizophrenia.