Related Experiment Videos
Social skills training and negative symptoms
N Matousek1, J Edwards, H J Jackson
1North Eastern Metropolitan Psychiatric Services, Melbourne.
Behavior Modification
|January 1, 1992
Summary
Social skills training (SST) showed modest improvements for schizophrenic patients with severe negative symptoms. However, the study found little evidence of a significant training effect, suggesting further research is needed.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Severe negative symptoms in schizophrenia can impair social functioning.
- Social skills training (SST) efficacy is uncertain for patients with prominent negative symptoms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of a combined nonverbal skills training and social skills game on social skills and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.
- To assess changes in depression, extrapyramidal side effects, and positive symptoms.
Main Methods:
- A multiple-baseline across-behaviors design was used with three patients exhibiting severe negative schizophrenic symptoms.
- Intervention combined nonverbal skills training with the Stacking the Deck social skills game.
- Social skills were assessed via role-play and conversation tests; negative symptoms and other clinical variables were monitored.
Main Results:
- Modest improvements in social skills and negative symptoms were observed.
- There was limited evidence to suggest a clear training effect.
- Unstable baseline measurements may have influenced the observed outcomes.
Conclusions:
- The combined intervention yielded some positive changes but lacked strong evidence of a training effect in this patient group.
- Further research should utilize comprehensive patient-assessment procedures to clarify treatment efficacy.
- The findings highlight the complexity of treating severe negative symptoms in schizophrenia.