COGNITIVE THERAPY IN REHABILITATION OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

The purpose of the proposed project is to evaluate the effects of a
group-format cognitive therapy procedure on psychiatric rehabilitation
of persons with schizophrenia. The primary study setting will be an
intensive inpatient psychiatric rehabilitation program in a state
hospital. The cognitive therapy is currently being developed, based on
procedures currently in widespread use in Europe and augmented by
additional techniques developed by the PI of the proposed project. The
primary hypotheses of the study are that cognitive therapy produces more
skill acquisition, higher attendance and participation, better personal
functioning, more rapid progress and more success in rehabilitation.
The hypotheses will be tested in two-groups (cognitive therapy vs. no
cognitive therapy) -- by -- repeated measures ANOVA's. In addition to the group contrast outcome analysis, a battery of
clinical measures will be evaluated for their ability to predict
treatment outcome. Successful completion of this study will lead to addition of a new
treatment modality of known effectiveness to the armamentarium of
psychiatric rehabilitation. Also, since cognitive therapy addresses
some of the "hallmark" deficits of schizophrenia more directly than
skill training modalities, data generated in this and future studies
should lead to a more complete understanding of the relationships
between cognitive and behavioral pathology in schizophrenia.