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The efficacy of social skills training in the treatment of schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

F. Brando ,
G.M. Giordano ,
G. Piegari ,
D. Palumbo ,
P. Bucci ,
A. Mucci  and
S. Galderisi
F. Brando*
Affiliation:
Department Of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
G.M. Giordano
Affiliation:
Department Of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
G. Piegari
Affiliation:
Department Of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
D. Palumbo
Affiliation:
Department Of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
P. Bucci
Affiliation:
Department Of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
A. Mucci
Affiliation:
Department Of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
S. Galderisi
Affiliation:
Department Of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Social cognition and skill deficits have been largely documented in subjects with schizophrenia (SCZs), and have a strong influence on the functional outcome of these subjects. Different behavioural interventions have been developed to target and improve social skills in SCZs. For instance, the Social Skills Training (SST) focuses on improving communication skills and assertiveness to facilitate disease management, independent living and real-life functioning of SCZs. SST seems also to have an impact on negative symptoms and social cognition.

Objectives

The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of SST in improving social cognition and negative symptoms in SCZs.

Methods

The sample included 8 chronic SCZs (age between 18 and 60), who completed 6 months of SST. The intervention consisted of two weekly group sessions of 2 hours each. We assessed psychopathology, neurocognition, real-life functioning, functional capacity and social cognition at baseline and after training. Paired samples t-tests were performed to evaluate the differences of the variables considered after completing the treatment.

Results

Significant improvements in negative symptoms (p<.05), social cognition (p<.05), functional capacity (p<.001), activities of daily living (p<.001) and interpersonal relationships (p<.011) were found.

Conclusions

The present findings suggest that SST might ameliorate social cognition and negative symptoms which are generally not influenced by antipsychotic treatment. The integration of pharmacological and SST interventions might have an impact on major determinants of poor real-life functioning in SCZs.

Keywords

social skills trainingschizophréniapsychiatric rehabilitationsocial cognition
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S505
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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