Social Cognition Training in Schizophrenia

People with schizophrenia show deficits in social cognition, the ability to process information about other people such as identifying their emotional expressions. Social cognition is associated with everyday life functioning and could therefore be an important treatment target. Several social cognitive training programs have been developed during the last years. Results indicate that social cognitive performance can be ameliorated through commonly used intervention techniques. However, it is less clear whether this improvement generalizes to everyday life. The purpose of this study is to investigate if a social cognitive training program (Training in Affect Recognition) improves performance on social cognitive and neuropsychological tests and leads to improved everyday life functioning in persons with schizophrenia. The study also aims at examining if an improvement is present three months after completion of the training intervention.

A 12-session social cognitive training programming covering emotion perception and social perception administered in a group setting to up to four participants with schizophrenia at the time

Inclusion Criteria: age 18-55 diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder IQ > 69 sufficient mastery of Norwegian to undergo assessments Exclusion Criteria: history of head trauma neurological/medical condition known to interfere with central nervous system receiving outpatient care at time of recruitment