Cognitive Behavioural Therapy- Social Functioning In Adolescence With Recent Onset Schizophrenia

There is growing consensus that targeting negative symptoms such as social withdrawal is essential to be able to preserve social participation; thereby reducing the high yearly costs of schizophrenia.

Aaron T. Beck, founder of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and colleagues have developed and investigated a new CBT approach, in which they target inactivity in a chronic schizophrenia population with severe negative symptoms; a subgroup that has always believed to be highly treatment resistant. The therapy is based on accumulating evidence that dysfunctional beliefs in conjunction with neurocognitive impairments can impede functioning. Its primary focus is to help patients overcome isolation and inactivity, thereby improve quality of life, rather than primarily focussing on the reduction of psychotic symptoms. Grant, Beck and colleagues found that patients treated with CBT not only showed more improvement in global functioning than patients in the Standard Treatment condition, they also showed a greater reduction in avolition/apathy and psychotic symptoms. These results suggest that CBT can be highly successful in establishing clinically meaningful improvements.

Thus far, this intervention had only been investigated in patients with chronic schizophrenia although there is increasing evidence that social withdrawal is also prominent in the early phase of the illness. Moreover, there is growing consensus that early intervention is more effective in improving illness course than intervention at a later stage of the illness.

In the present study the investigators aimed to examine whether a relatively short, partly group based CBT targeting negative symptoms in recent-onset schizophrenia patients results in reduced social withdrawal, need for care and improvement in quality of life and in overall functioning compared to treatment as usual.

Primary Objective:

The primary aim of this project was to examine a shortened (+/- 20 sessions) and partly group-based version of the new and promising CBT approach tested in a chronic population (from now: 'Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - Social Activation' (CBTsa)), for its applicability and effectiveness in a recent-onset population. The CBTsa has been adjusted to the specific needs of the young recent-onset cohort.

Secondary Objective(s):

A secondary aim was explore the cost-effectiveness of this new intervention (i.e. the balance between costs and health outcomes for CBTsa compared with treatment as usual(ST).

Hypotheses:

• CBT focused on social activation (CBTsa) will result in a substantial reduction in severity of negative symptoms, and in particular social withdrawal
• The intervention will result in a reduction in need for care and QALY gain as a consequence of improvement in symptoms and social functioning.
• CBTsa will lead to an improvement in terms of Quality of Life and overall functioning and symptomatology.

Study Design The present study entails a single-blind two-level RCT directed at patients with recent onset schizophrenia. Participants will be randomly assigned to intervention condition (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy- Social Activation (CBTsa) plus Standard Treatment (ST)), or to the control condition (ST alone). Patients will be stratified by sex, as females with recent onset schizophrenia have a better prognosis and may respond differentially to CBTsa. A baseline test battery will be employed to examine causes of social withdrawal and interaction with treatment outcome. Follow-up assessments (repetition test battery) will take place directly after the intervention period and 6 months post-treatment.

Study population/ datasources Study sample: patients hospitalized or attending day-treatment or receiving outpatient care at one of the participating centers. To maximize engagement, group therapy will be incorporated in the day program. Individual therapy sessions will be delivered flexibly (time, location). All participants are embedded within a low-threshold intensive outreaching care system (aligned with our academic department).

Inclusion criteria

• recent onset schizophrenia or related disorder (start antipsychotic medication <2 yr);
• Social withdrawal (> 3 moderate severity on the PANSS N4; Passive/apathic social withdrawal; range 0-7);
• Aged 18-35 years;
• Fluent in Dutch
• IQ>70;
• Able and willing to give informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• Younger than eighteen years of age;
• No mastery of the Dutch language;
• Negative symptoms as a consequence of positive symptoms (e.g. withdrawal due to paranoid delusions). Positive symptoms as such are not an exclusion criterion; only when they are considered to be the primary cause of the negative symptoms, in which case CBT focused on positive symptoms or another type of intervention for positive symptoms is called for.