Emotion recognition and social competence in chronic schizophrenia.

This study evaluated (a) whether chronic, medicated schizophrenia patients show deficits in emotion recognition compared to nonpatients, and (b) whether deficits in emotion recognition are related to poorer social competence. Two emotion recognition tests developed by S. L. Kerr and J. M. Neale (1993) and Benton's Test of Facial Recognition (A. Benton, M. VanAllen, K. Hamsher, & H. Levin, 1978) were given to patients with chronic schizophrenia and nonpatient controls. Patients' social skills, social adjustment, and symptomatology were assessed. Like Kerr and Neale's unmedicated patients, these patients performed worse than controls on both emotion recognition tests and the control test. For patients, facial perception was related to the chronicity of illness and social competence. Chronicity of illness may contribute to face perception deficits in schizophrenia, which may affect social competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in people with schizophrenia.

This study evaluated the hypothesis that trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity would be positively associated with schizophrenia symptoms. Forty-seven clients with schizophrenia were assessed for schizophrenia severity and for lifetime trauma history and PTSD symptoms in 2 independent symptom interviews; 35 (74%) participants reported at least 1 event in which there was threat of harm or life threat and subjective distress, and 6 (13%) had current PTSD. Trauma across the life span was associated with greater severity of PTSD. Within the total sample, PTSD symptoms were associated with greater emotional distress, but not with schizophrenia-specific symptoms. Distress among clients with schizophrenia and PTSD suggests the need for routine assessment of PTSD and development of PTSD interventions in this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender, social competence, and symptomatology in schizophrenia: A longitudinal analysis.

The relationship between gender and social skill measured by performance on a role play test was examined in a sample of 57 schizophrenics, 33 affective disorder patients, and 20 nonpatient controls. Female schizophrenics were more skilled than male schizophrenics, but no gender differences were present in the affective patients or the controls. Longitudinal analyses conducted on the schizophrenic group indicated that the superior social skill of women was stable over the year following a symptom exacerbation. Symptoms and social adjustment improved for both men and women over the year, but did not differ according to gender. The implications of the results for gender differences in the long-term outcome of schizophrenia are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability of females' facial attractiveness during childhood.

96 male university students rated the attractiveness of 13 females, using yearbook photographs taken in Grades 1, 4, 7, or 10. A mixed-model ANOVA indicated that the targets differed from one another in attractiveness averaged over time but that substantial intraindividual changes occurred as well. The stability of ratings of attractiveness suggests that the social effects of attractiveness may have long-term influences on one's life. The "beautiful-is-good" stereotype might cause unattractive people to be avoided, causing them to develop negative self-concepts and preventing them from receiving the feedback necessary to develop social skills. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of social problem solving in schizophrenia.

Examined social problem solving in schizophrenia. 27 schizophrenic patients in an acute hospital, 19 patients with bipolar disease, and 17 demographically matched nonpatient controls were tested on an empirically developed problem-solving battery that assessed the ability to generate solutions to problems, the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of solutions, and the ability to implement solutions in a role-playing format. Schizophrenic Ss were impaired on all 3 problem-solving domains compared with the nonpatient controls, but bipolar Ss were equally impaired. Several alternative explanations for these findings were considered. The most compelling hypothesis is that the deficits resulted from different factors: cognitive impairment for schizophrenic Ss and acute illness for bipolar Ss. However, longitudinal studies are required to determine whether problem-solving deficits in schizophrenic patients persist during periods of remission. Implications for rehabilitation strategies are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A meta-analysis of controlled research on social skills training for schizophrenia.

A meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials of social skills training for schizophrenia was conducted. Outcome measures from 22 studies including 1,521 clients were categorized according to a proximal-distal continuum in relation to the presumed site of action of skills training interventions, with content mastery tests and performance-based measures of skills assumed to be most proximal, community functioning and negative symptoms intermediate, and general symptoms and relapse most distal. Results reveal a large weighted mean effect size for content-mastery exams (d = 1.20), a moderate mean effect size for performance-based measures of social and daily living skills (d = 0.52), moderate mean effect sizes for community functioning (d = 0.52) and negative symptoms (d = 0.40), and small mean effect sizes for other symptoms (d = 0.15) and relapse (d = 0.23). These results support the efficacy of social skills training for improving psychosocial functioning in schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of methods for detecting substance use disorder in persons with severe mental illness.

Substance use disorders are frequently undiagnosed in psychiatric settings. One possible reason for this underdiagnosis is the lack of screening procedures designed or validated specifically for psychiatric patients. To evaluate the utility of current detection methods, (a) criterion diagnoses were established of alcohol use disorder and drug (cannabis or cocaine) use disorder on 320 patients with severe mental illness recently admitted to a psychiatric hospital, using a combination of structured diagnostic interviews and clinician ratings, and (b) the classification accuracy of several substance abuse measures developed for the general population was examined. For this particular sample, demographic variables, clinical variables, medical exams, laboratory tests, and collateral reports did not yield accurate detection. Screens based on self-report were superior to these other approaches but still yielded modest sensitivity. The results suggest that many individuals are classified incorrectly with current techniques. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group treatment for dually diagnosed clients

Group treatment is a widely practiced intervention for persons with dual diagnoses. This chapter reviews the rationale for group treatment and discusses four different approaches to group intervention: twelve-step, educational-supportive, social skills, and stagewise treatment.     

Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in severe mental illness

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a new, compact, dynamic diffusion cell for in vitro transdermal permeation. These so-called Kelder-cells were developed as an automated alternative to the static Franz diffusion cells. The new cells were used in combination with the ASPEC-system (automatic sample preparation with extraction columns) which was initially designed for the automation of solid-phase extractions. Three variables were tested to optimize the performance of the new cell system: injection height into the inlet compartment, volume flowing through the receptor compartment and temperature. Experiments were performed using the tritium labelled anticholinergic [3H]dexetimide permeating through an artificial membrane (Silastic). The injection height of the needle into the inlet compartment of the cell should be programmed at -34 mm to ensure complete air tightness, thus forcing the buffer to flow through the cell. The volume of buffer flow through the receptor compartment is important in maintaining sink conditions: a volume of 117 microliters was chosen to replace the total content of the cell (84 microliters) every 2 min. The temperature was precisely controlled in a thermostatic cabinet to minimize variations in experimental conditions. For [3H]dexetimide, an increase in temperature of 20 degrees C reduced the lag time by a factor of approximately two, however the influence on the flux was negligible. The data for the Kelder-cells were comparable with static Franz diffusion cells at a pseudo-steady state, however Kelder-cells have the advantage of automatic sampling, continuous replacement of the receptor solution, and unattended operation over at least 24 h.     

Family treatment and medication dosage reduction in schizophrenia: Effects on patient social functioning, family attitudes, and burden.

The effects of 2 family intervention programs (supportive family management [SFM], including monthly support groups for 2 years; or applied family management [AFM], including 1 year of behavioral family therapy plus support groups for 2 years), and 3 different neuroleptic dosage strategies (standard, low, targeted) on social functioning of patients with schizophrenia, their relatives' attitudes, and family burden were examined. AFM was associated with lower rejecting attitudes by relatives toward patients and less friction in the family perceived by patients. Patients in both AFM and SFM improved in social functioning but did not differ, whereas family burden was unchanged. Medication strategy had few effects, nor did it interact with family intervention. The addition of time-limited behavioral family therapy to monthly support groups improved family atmosphere, but did not influence patient social functioning or family burden. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)