Remediation of problem-solving skills in schizophrenia: evidence of a persistent effect

Neuropsychological deficits in problem solving are commonly found in patients with schizophrenia. We have previously presented the results of a study examining the feasibility of utilizing problem-solving teaching techniques developed within educational psychology, for remediating the problem-solving deficits of inpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. These techniques emphasize the importance of intrinsic motivation on therapeutic outcome and promote this through contextualization, personalization and control of learning activities. We present here the results of the follow-up assessment, which found that the gains made by the problem-solving group persisted for 4 weeks after cessation of problem-solving remediation ended. These results provide more evidence of the therapeutic benefit of problem-solving training techniques that promote intrinsic motivation and generic problem-solving strategies.