A pilot study of social cognition and interaction training (SCIT) for schizophrenia.

A pilot study of social cognition and interaction training (SCIT) for schizophrenia Dear Editors, There has been growing interest in the role of social cognition in schizophrenia (Penn et al., 1997). Much of the enthusiasm is due to the functional significance of social cognition; social cognition contributes variance beyond neurocognition to social functioning in schizophrenia (Brune, 2005; Vauth et al., 2004). Such findings have led to the measurement of social cognition in the MATRICS neurocognitive battery (Nuechterlein et al., 2004). The importance of social cognition has also led to interventions that seek to improve social cognitive functioning. These interventions can be conceptualized as either btargeted,Q that focus on a specific social cognitive ability (e.g., emotion perception; Silver et al., 2004), or bbroad-based,Q that typically include cognitive remediation (e.g., Hogarty et al., 2004). Targeted interventions ignore the range of social cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, while broad-based interventions raise questions about whether cognitive remediation is a necessary first step. These issues led us to develop an intervention that focuses specifically on the key domains of social cognition that are impaired in schizophrenia: emotion perception , attributional style, and theory of mind (Green et al., in press). Below, we report pilot data on this new intervention, Social Cognition and Interaction Training (SCIT). SCIT is a manual-based, group intervention designed for individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, particularly individuals with paranoia. Three phases comprise SCIT: (1) Understanding emotions (6 sessions); (2) Social cognitive biases (7 sessions); and (3) Integration (5 sessions). In phase one, we introduce social cognition by asking participants to discuss times when they have gotten social situations bwrongQ (e.g., thinking someone was mad at them when they were not). The remainder of phase one is devoted to defining basic emotions, including suspiciousness, and linking facial expressions to emotions. This latter task is conducted in part with the Emotion Trainer, a computer program which has been shown to improve emotion perception in schizophrenia (Silver et al., 2004). Phase two is devoted to strategies for avoiding the pitfalls associated with bjumping to conclusions ,Q a common problem for clients with paranoia. This concept is illustrated via videotaped interactions of actors who draw conclusions from events without having adequate information. We tell clients that our goal is to make them better social detectives, so as not to bconvictQ based on initial evidence. To achieve this goal, clients are taught to brainstorm multiple possible explanations, first …