No abstract

Social cognitive intervention is a feasible and promising approach to improving social functioning among individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Dose-response findings suggest that delivering social cognitive interventions with greater frequency may maximize their benefit to patients. Research on social cognitive interventions is still young and effects from well-controlled trials have been inconsistent. It is not yet clear which components of social cognitive training may be the key active ingredients.

It is well-accepted that occupational hazards are endemic to the profession of psychology and that psychologists bring both strengths and vulnerabilities to their choice of career. Given the pressures faced by psychologists in contemporary society, how can we most effectively meet our ethical obligation to maintain competence throughout our professional life span in order to provide high quality care to those we serve? In this article, we propose to expand the current conceptualization of psychologist functioning as embodied in the widely promulgated stress-distress continuum. Through the incorporation of a positive dimension, we can envision the potential for psychologists to spiral up via their practice of enhanced self-care. Four foundational principles are interwoven throughout our consideration of effective self-care for psychologists: an emphasis on flourishing (rather than merely surviving), intentionality, an awareness of reciprocity in care of self and others and the benefits of integrating self-care into our daily practices and routines, rather than being added onto existing personal and professional obligations. A review of the literature on psychologist self-care strategies, healthy lifestyles, mindfulness, acceptance-based therapies, and positive psychology informs our endorsement of mindfulness-based positive principles and practice (MPPP's) for psychologists. These MPPP's are broadly conceptualized as the how of effective self-care that supports the what (as in what to do) in this realm. Finally, we envision a future in which effective self-care embedded in MPPP's is truly valued, supported and promoted by the profession in a manner that complements and sustains our ongoing well-being and professional competence.

No abstract

Adolescents at genetic high risk (GHR) for schizophrenia have shown social skill impairments and there is some evidence to suggest they have Theory of Mind (ToM) deficits; however no research has used a standardized, performance-based behavioral measure to assess social functioning in this population nor evaluated ToM with a well-validated measure. We evaluated the psychometric properties of a new, theoretically-derived assessment of social functioning in GHR adolescents: the "High-Risk Social Challenge" task (HiSoC). The second aim was to explore whether GHR adolescents would show social skill and ToM deficits as compared to a non-psychiatric control (NPC) group. The present study evaluated social functioning with the HiSoC and ToM with the Eyes Test in 23 GHR adolescents and 31 NPCs. The HiSoC demonstrated high levels of reliability and validity. The GHR adolescents showed social skills impairments, but not ToM deficits. The results suggest that the HiSoC is a potentially useful new measure of social functioning in GHR adolescents. Furthermore, the findings add to the current body of literature that indicates that social skill impairments are related to schizophrenia vulnerability.

Introduction Individuals with schizophrenia consistently show impairments in social cognition (SC). SC has become a potential treatment target due to its association with functional outcomes. An alternative method of assessment is to administer an observer-based scale incorporating an informant’s “first hand” impressions in ratings. Methods The present study used the Observable Social Cognition: A Rating Scale (OSCARS) in 62 outpatients and 50 non-psychiatric controls (NPCs) to assess performance in domains of SC (e.g. emotion perception, theory of mind). Results The OSCARS demonstrated sufficient internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Construct validity was assessed through an exploratory factor analysis. Patient OSCARS indices were not significantly correlated with measures of SC with the exception of aggressive attributional style. Individuals with less impairment in SC reacted more aggressively to ambiguous situations. NPC OSCARS were significantly correlated with measures of theory of mind and attributional style. In a combined sample of patients and controls, six of eight items were significantly correlated with the SC task assessing the same domain, providing modest evidence of convergent validity. In patients, the OSCARS was significantly correlated with measures of functional outcome and neurocognition. Lastly, the OSCARS was found to be significantly associated with functional outcome after the influence of objective measures of SC was statistically removed. Conclusions The present study provides preliminary evidence that the OSCARS may be useful for clinicians in collecting data about patients’ potential real-world SC deficits, in turn increasing the degree to which these impairments may be targeted in treatment.

No abstract

The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of a role-play measure of empathy, the Performance of Empathic Expression Rating Scale (PEERS), in a sample of 60 individuals with schizophrenia and 51 healthy controls. The role-play ratings assess a person's ability to interact empathically with a confederate in an emotionally charged situation. The PEERS demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and inter-rater reliability. Construct validity was assessed through analyses of variance to examine differences between patients and controls. Patients performed significantly worse than controls, but most of these differences were explained by social skill ability. Convergent validity analyses indicated that the PEERS is related to some aspects of a self-report measure of empathy and a theory of mind task. The PEERS also demonstrated acceptable discriminant validity. Implications for the future use of this measure will be discussed.