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Dissertation
Improving everyday action through executive training in schizophrenia
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
2010
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00008541
Abstract
Both everyday action and cognitive functioning are impaired in people with schizophrenia It has been demonstrated that cognitive functioning, and in particular executive functioning, is a strong predictor of everyday action abilities in schizophrenia. Previous research has shown that patients with schizophrenia show a unique performance on the Naturalistic Action Test (NAT), a measure of everyday action, which consisted of a high number of off-task errors consistent with executive dysfunction. Because of the well documented functional impairments seen in everyday tasks in schizophrenia, this study examined whether or not an intervention based on Goal Management Training (GMT) aimed at remediating executive deficits would positively impact everyday action performance in individuals with schizophrenia. The sample consisted of 26 participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who were recruited from inpatient psychiatric units. Three of the individuals originally recruited were unexpectedly released from the hospital before they were able to complete their second session, so their data were not used for the statistical analyses (final n = 23). Overall, our main analyses showed that patients who received the intervention did not show greater overall performance on the NAT, did not commit fewer errors, and did not accomplish more of the steps than patients who received a placebo-control intervention. Effect sizes were also small, further indicating that this patient group did not benefit from the intervention. The hypothesis that GMT would help improve patients' performance on the NAT was not supported. However, it is important to note that while this patient population may be among the most treatment resistant, research shows these patients are capable of improvements in cognition, evidenced by both their behavior and neuronal plasticity. Because of the severe functional impairments present in schizophrenia, future research should continue to investigate different cognitive intervention strategies and their effectiveness.
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Details
- Title
- Improving everyday action through executive training in schizophrenia
- Creators
- Nicole Sestito
- Contributors
- Douglas L. Chute (Advisor) - Drexel University, Drexel University (1970-)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- ix, 78 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences (Psychology); College of Arts and Sciences; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991021889078604721