Social Cognition and Interaction Training (SCIT) for Adults with Psychotic Disorders: A Feasibility Study in Finland.

BACKGROUND: Social Cognition and Interaction Training (SCIT) is a psychosocial treatment designed to improve social functioning in schizophrenia by improving social cognition. Positive results have been reported from several studies, mainly from the USA, but more studies are needed to determine the feasibility of SCIT in different cultural contexts. AIMS: The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the Finnish translation of SCIT in Finland. METHOD: This was an uncontrolled, within-group study. Thirty-three patients with psychotic disorders participated in SCIT groups and also received the standard services provided at their respective care facilities. We measured participant attendance, attrition and responses on feedback surveys. Participants also completed measures of emotion perception, Theory of Mind (ToM), attributional bias and metacognitive overconfidence both before and after SCIT. RESULTS: The attendance rate was high, attrition was low, and the patients expressed satisfaction with SCIT. Preliminary efficacy analyses showed a statistically significant pre to posttest improvement in emotion perception and ToM, but not attributional bias or overconfidence. CONCLUSIONS: SCIT is feasible and well accepted and may remediate social cognitive dysfunction in people with psychotic disorders in Finland.

Theory of mind in a first-episode psychosis population using the Hinting Task.

Deficiencies in theory of mind (ToM) are common in psychosis and may largely explain impaired social functioning. Currently, it is unclear whether impairments in ToM are explained by the more general cognitive deficits related to psychosis or whether ToM is impaired in psychosis independently of other cognitive deficits. This study examined ToM using the Hinting Task in young adults (n = 66) with first-episode psychosis and matched controls (n = 62). The participants were administered a broad neuropsychological assessment. Participants with psychosis performed worse than controls on the Hinting Task. However, 75% of the variance between the groups was explained by general cognitive deficits, especially impaired processing speed and episodic memory. Hinting Task performance of the best functioning patient group did not differ from that of the control group. When the psychosis group was divided according to diagnosis, the Hinting Task difference between individuals with schizophrenia and controls remained significant even when general cognitive performance was controlled for, suggesting specific verbal ToM deficits in schizophrenia. In contrast, those with other psychotic disorders did not differ from controls. Our results suggest that ToM deficits can be seen in early phases of psychotic disorders, schizophrenia in particular, and are partly independent of other cognitive functions.