A controlled randomized treatment study: the effects of a cognitive remediation program on adolescents with early onset psychosis

OBJECTIVE: To examine if a cognitive remediation program could be a positive supplement to a psychoeducational treatment program for adolescents with early onset psychosis. METHOD: Twenty-six subjects, randomly assigned to cognitive remediation (n = 14) or control group (n = 12), were assessed on cognitive, clinical, psychosocial and behavioural measures. RESULTS: No significant between-group differences in pre- and post-treatment scores were found. This may be due to low statistical power. Exploratory within-group analyses showed that the training group improved on five of the 10 cognitive, and three of the five functioning outcome measures, while the control group improved on three of the cognitive, and one functioning outcome variable. CONCLUSION: Based on these results we cannot conclude that the addition of this cognitive remediation program, yields better results than psychoeducation alone. However, within-group analyses indicate that on specific cognitive functions, as well as on some functioning outcome measures, the remediation program may have a positive effect.