Effects of Neurocognitive and Social Cognitive Remediation in Patients at Ultra-High Risk of Psychosis

Summary

Cognitive deficits are known to be a core feature of schizophrenia and seem to become manifest in the prodromal or Ultra-High Risk (UHR) state of psychosis. The cognitive deficits are known to pose a critical barrier to functional recovery. Hence it is of vital importance to find intervention strategies that can alleviate these cognitive deficits and consequently improve daily functioning, and quality of life, as well as the prognosis for UHR-patients. The investigators will examine whether:

* Cognitive remediation therapy will be superior to standard treatment in improving cognitive functioning in UHR- patients (null hypothesis: No difference between the two groups).
* Cognitive remediation therapy will be superior to standard treatment in improving psychosocial functioning and clinical symptoms in UHR-patients (null hypothesis: No difference between the two groups).

Conditions

• Patients at Ultra-high Risk of Psychosis

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Cognitive remediation

Neurocognition will be trained using the NEAR model (Medalia et al. 2003), whereas the training of social cognitive skills will be by use of the SCIT manual (Social Cognition and Interaction Training) developed by Roberts et al. 2014. The intervention consists of 24 group sessions taking place once a week (two hours) and additional neurocognitive training at home. Furthermore, there will be a total of 12 individual sessions aiming at bridging the cognitive training to the everyday functioning of the patients.

BEHAVIORAL

Standard treatment

Patients allocated to the control condition are free to choose whatever standard treatment they are offered by the clinicians managing their treatment. Usually standard treatment consists of regular contact to health professionals in the in- and outpatient facilities in Copenhagen, Denmark, and encompass different kinds of supportive counselling.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, CINS

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Copenhagen Trial Unit, Center for Clinical Intervention Research

  collaborator OTHER

• Mental Health Services in the Capital Region, Denmark

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Merete Nordentoft, Professor · Mental Health Services in the Capital Region, Denmark

• Louise B Glenthøj, MsC · Mental Health Services in the Capital Region, Denmark

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

40 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2014-03-31

Primary Completion

2019-02-28

Completion

2019-02-28

Countries

• Denmark

Study Locations