Psychiatric and functional correlates of stigma associated with cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is the most strongly stigmatized psychiatric diagnosis, with negative stereotypes including assumptions of incompetence and inability to recover. Individuals with cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS) have reported stigma experiences, suggesting that CIAS carries stigma in addition to the stigma associated with schizophrenia as a diagnostic label. While research has established that mental illness stigma more generally is linked with poor psychiatric and functional outcomes, no research has explored correlates of CIAS stigma.

Feasibility and Acceptability of Providing Cognitive Remediation in a Large USA System of Coordinated Specialty Care for Early Psychosis.

Introduction: Multinational treatment guidelines support providing cognitive remediation to people recently diagnosed with schizophrenia, but the feasibility of implementing the treatment on a large scale is less well understood.

Methods: This study took place between 2019 and 2023 at 14 clinics within a large network of programs providing early intervention services to people aged 16-30 experiencing nonaffective psychosis. Clinics were randomly assigned to deliver cognitive remediation as twice-weekly clinician-led groups (N = 5), cognitive remediation as once-weekly clinician-led groups with homework (N = 6), or treatment as usual (N = 3).

Integrative Neuro-social cognitive Strategy Programme for Instilling REcovery (INSPIRE): a community-based cognitive remediation trial-study procotol.

Background: Adults with schizophrenia experience a range of neurocognitive problems that affect their daily functioning. Evidence for the efficacy of cognitive remediation in schizophrenia has been established, but its implementation in under-resourced community-based settings is less well-studied. In recent years, interventions have also focused on the strategy-learning approach in favor of drill-and-practice.

Perceived Stigma Toward Cognitive Impairment Among People With Schizophrenia.

Objective: Stigma toward schizophrenia spectrum disorders is pervasive and negatively influences service access and delivery. Cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS) is common, but its association with stigma is unknown. In this study, the authors examined whether individuals with CIAS receiving cognitive remediation treatment report experiencing CIAS-related stigma and sought to establish associations between CIAS-related stigma and recovery-relevant outcomes.

Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the measure of insight into cognition-self-report in psychosis-risk and non-clinical Mexican young adults.

Aim: Cognitive disturbances typically precede the onset of overt psychotic symptoms and represent a neurobiological marker for psychosis risk that is also associated with poor functional outcomes. The Measure of Insight into Cognition-Self Report (MIC-SR) is a widely used 12-item questionnaire that assesses the perceived frequency of cognitive impairment in the domains of executing functioning, attention, and memory. However, the MIC-SR is not available in Spanish, one of the most widely spoken languages worldwide.

National Cohort Data Suggests an Association Between Serious Mental Illness and Audiometric Hearing Loss.

Objective: To explore whether there is an association between serious mental illness (SMI) and hearing loss (HL) among US Hispanic adults.

Study Design And Setting: Cross-sectional epidemiological study (Hispanic Community Health Study), including multicentered US volunteers.

Methods: Multivariable linear regressions were conducted to study the association between SMI and HL.

Hearing Loss in Older People With Schizophrenia: Audiologic Characteristics and Association With Psychosocial Functioning.

Objective: The severity and impact of hearing deficits among adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders may become increasingly relevant with advancing age. This study evaluated hearing ability and associated psychosocial functioning among older adults aged 50-70.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis.

Engagement of individuals with serious mental illness in outpatient mental health services and telehealth use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Questions remain regarding whether the transition and continued use of telehealth was associated with changes in treatment engagement among patients with serious mental illness (SMI). Using NYS Medicaid claims, we identified 116,497 individuals with SMI receiving outpatient mental health services from September 1, 2019-February 28, 2021 and a comparison cohort of 101,995 from September 1, 2017-February 28, 2019 to account for unmeasured and seasonal variation. We characterized engagement in three 6-month increments (T-T-T) using clinically meaningful measures of high, partial, low, and none.

Correlates of hearing loss among adults with schizophrenia.

Background: Hearing loss (HL) is associated with adverse cognitive, mental, and physical health outcomes. There is evidence that across age groups HL is more prevalent in people with schizophrenia than the general population. Given that people with schizophrenia may already be vulnerable to cognitive and psychosocial disability, we sought to examine how hearing ability relates to concurrent levels of cognitive, mental and daily functioning.

Dose-Dependent Augmentation of Neuroplasticity-Based Auditory Learning in Schizophrenia: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized, Target Engagement Clinical Trial of the NMDA Glutamate Receptor Agonist d-serine.

Background: Patients with schizophrenia show reduced NMDA glutamate receptor-dependent auditory plasticity, which is rate limiting for auditory cognitive remediation (AudRem). We evaluate the utility of behavioral and neurophysiological pharmacodynamic target engagement biomarkers, using a d-serine+AudRem combination.

Methods: Forty-five participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were randomized to 3 once-weekly AudRem visits + double-blind d-serine (80, 100, or 120 mg/kg) or placebo in 3 dose cohorts of 12 d-serine and 3 placebo-treated participants each.

Feasibility and clinical utility of using the tone matching test for assessment of early auditory processing in schizophrenia.

Early auditory processing (EAP) deficits are prevalent in schizophrenia and linked to disturbances in higher order cognition and daily functioning. Treatments that target EAP have the potential to drive downstream cognitive and functional improvements, but clinically feasible means to detect EAP impairment are lacking. This report describes the clinical feasibility and utility of using the Tone Matching (TM) Test to assess EAP in adults with schizophrenia.

Early auditory processing dysfunction in schizophrenia: Mechanisms and implications.

Schizophrenia is a major mental disorder that affects approximately 1% of the population worldwide. Cognitive deficits are a key feature of the disorder and a primary cause of long-term disability. Over the past decades, significant literature has accumulated demonstrating impairments in early auditory perceptual processes in schizophrenia.

The use of virtual reality and augmented reality in psychosocial rehabilitation for adults with neurodevelopmental disorders: A systematic review.

Objectives: Virtual reality and augmented reality have been used in psychosocial rehabilitation for adults with neurodevelopmental disorders in recent years, to provide functional training in a scaffolded and appealing manner. This systematic review attempted to evaluate (1) how virtual reality or augmented reality technology was deployed, when used as an intervention for adults with neurodevelopmental disorders; and (2) how virtual or augmented reality-assisted psychosocial rehabilitation programs impacted on the functional domains of community living, employment and social participation.

Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was adopted and a search of publications between June 2012 and June 2022 was carried out.

Assessing metamotivation in schizophrenia: A pilot study of the Brief Regulation of Motivation Scale (BRoMS).

Metamotivation is defined as the ability to identify, monitor, and self-regulate motivation in service of goal attainment. As metamotivation is becoming an area of increased interest for intervention among people with psychiatric disorders, there is a need for valid and reliable self-report measures. The current pilot study adapted the Brief Regulation of Motivation Scale (BRoMS; Kim et al.

A gamified augmented reality vocational training program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities: A pilot study on acceptability and effectiveness.

Objectives: The Augmented Reality Games to Enhance Vocational Ability of Patients (REAP) was an augmented reality vocational training program that provided skills training in the context of a psychiatric rehabilitation program. It was implemented over 10 weeks and consisted of gamified augmented reality café training scenarios and bridging group activities to facilitate transfer of learning to the work context. This pilot study aimed to explore the acceptability and effectiveness of the REAP program when carried out with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities attending work therapy.

Metamotivation in people diagnosed with schizophrenia: A conceptual introduction and qualitative study.

Negative symptoms, such as avolition, are considered to be some of the most debilitating symptoms of schizophrenia, yet the mechanisms that contribute to their formation and persistence are poorly understood. In this article, we introduce a novel concept, metamotivation, as having potential implications for avolition, a core negative symptom. Metamotivation is defined as the ability to identify, monitor, and self-regulate motivation in service of goal attainment.

Feasibility and acceptability of remotely accessed cognitive remediation for schizophrenia in public health settings.

Cognitive remediation (CR) is an evidence-based therapy used to improve cognition in people with schizophrenia. However, it often requires multiple in-person clinic sessions per week, which can limit scalability. This mixed methods study considered the feasibility and acceptability of a hybrid approach, which allowed for half the sessions to be conducted remotely as homework, without the clinician present.

Client, clinician, and administrator factors associated with the successful acceptance of a telehealth comprehensive recovery service: A mixed methods study.

The coronavirus disease 2019 SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) crisis and subsequent social distancing recommendations resulted in increased use of telehealth within recovery-oriented behavioral health services (RS). Populations with serious mental illness (SMI) rely on psychosocial treatment, care coordination, and pharmacotherapy to achieve recovery goals and increase community engagement. This program evaluation of a group-based RS used mixed methods to better understand the multiple factors that contributed to successful telehealth conversion.

Feasibility and pilot efficacy of cognitive remediation for people in residential substance use treatment.

Introduction: There are high rates of cognitive impairment among people seeking treatment for problematic substance use, which is rarely addressed in treatment programs. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility and outcomes of the neuropsychological and educational approach to cognitive remediation (NEAR) in a residential substance treatment setting.

Methods: A non-randomised trial conducted between November 2018 and November 2019, compared outcomes for 34 residents who received cognitive remediation (CR) plus treatment as usual (TAU) to 31 residents who received TAU only.