Faculty Collaboration Database

A randomized study of cognitive remediation for forensic and mental health patients with schizophrenia. J Psychiatr Res 2015 Sep;68:8-18

Date

08/01/2015

Pubmed ID

26228394

DOI

10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.05.013

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84937819467 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   51 Citations

Abstract

Cognitive remediation has proven efficacy for improving neurocognition in people with schizophrenia. The current study evaluated the benefits of cognitive remediation on neurocognition, functioning, psychotic symptoms, and aggression in a sample of forensic and mental health patients. Care recipients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (N = 78) receiving services in the forensic and mental health units of a state hospital were randomized to participate in cognitive remediation versus computer games control activities. Participants' neurocognition, functional capacity, experiential recovery, psychotic symptoms, and aggression incidents were assessed at baseline and posttreatment. Cognitive remediation was associated with improvements in several neurocognitive domains and circumscribed domains of functional capacity. People assigned to cognitive remediation experiences greater reductions in negative symptoms, agitation/excitement, and verbal and physical aggression. In addition to improving neurocognition in long-term hospitalized forensic and mental health patients, cognitive remediation may enhance efforts at reducing negative symptoms, emotion dysregulation, and aggression incidents. Forensic settings may represent a new frontier for the clinical dissemination of cognitive remediation.

Author List

Ahmed AO, Hunter KM, Goodrum NM, Batten NJ, Birgenheir D, Hardison E, Dixon T, Buckley PF

Author

Denis Birgenheir PhD Assistant Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Aggression
Analysis of Variance
Cognition Disorders
Crime
Female
Humans
Intelligence Tests
Male
Mentally Ill Persons
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychotic Disorders
Retrospective Studies
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenic Psychology
Treatment Outcome
Young Adult