Preliminary Outcomes of an Ecological Momentary Intervention for Social Functioning in Schizophrenia: Pre-Post Study of the Motivation and Skills Support App

Abstract

Background People with schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses often lack access to evidence-based interventions, particularly interventions that target meaningful recovery outcomes such as social functioning and quality of life. Mobile technologies, including smartphone apps, have the potential to provide scalable support that places elements of evidence-based interventions at the palm of patients’ hands. Objective We aim to develop a smartphone app—called Motivation and Skills Support—to provide targeted social goal support (eg, making new friends and improving existing relationships) for people with schizophrenia enrolled in a stand-alone open trial. Methods In this paper, we presented preliminary outcomes of 31 participants who used the Motivation and Skills Support app for 8 weeks, including social functioning pre- to postintervention, and momentary reports of treatment targets (eg, social motivation and appraisals) during the intervention. Results The findings suggest that the intervention improved self-reported social functioning from baseline to treatment termination, particularly in female participants. Gains were not maintained at the 3-month follow-up. Furthermore, increased social functioning was predicted by momentary reports of social appraisals, including perceived social competence and the extent to which social interactions were worth the effort. Conclusions The implications of these findings and future directions for addressing social functioning in schizophrenia using mobile technology have been discussed. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03404219; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03404219

Educational Technologies for Teaching Social Skills to Individuals With Schizophrenia: Scoping Review

“…In contrast to psychosocial interventions, findings highlight how ETs provide a method for generalization and continuation of SS for real-time self-management within dynamic social interactions. mHealth applications provide promise in addressing psychosocial outcomes in an on-demand and personalized format that targets social motivation ( Fulford et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Despite evidence on the efficacy of psychosocial interventions, individuals with SZ experience long-standing SS deficits and often lack access to evidence-based psychosocial interventions, particularly those targeting social functioning and QoL ( Fulford et al, 2021 ). Access is limited due to cost, duration, and intensity of existing interventions ( Fulford et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Despite evidence on the efficacy of psychosocial interventions, individuals with SZ experience long-standing SS deficits and often lack access to evidence-based psychosocial interventions, particularly those targeting social functioning and QoL ( Fulford et al, 2021 ). Access is limited due to cost, duration, and intensity of existing interventions ( Fulford et al, 2021 ). This contributes to a treatment gap for SZ, adversely affecting long term SS, illness self-management of symptoms and motivation for functional-based care ( Westermann et al, 2020 ).…”

A WeChat-based self-compassion training to improve the treatment adherence of patients with schizophrenia in China: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial

“…FOCUS has demonstrated similar efficacy to standard in-person psychosocial approaches in caring for people with schizophrenia. Other smartphone apps have also been effectively designed to address social functioning in patients with schizophrenia ( Fulford et al, 2021 ). Therefore, it is meaningful to design an online self-compassion training program specifically for patients with schizophrenia.…”