Environmental Adaptations Improve Everyday Action in Schizophrenia

Cognitive functioning, particularly executive functioning, is a strong predictor of functional outcomes in people with schizophrenia. Cognitive remediation has been shown to improve specific cognitive processes, but adjunctive interventions are required for meaningful gains in adaptive functioning,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 2015-05, Vol.21 (5), p.319-329
Main Authors: Kessler, Rachel K., Rhodes, Emma, Giovannetti, Tania
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities of Daily Living - psychology
Adaptation, Physiological - physiology
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Cognition & reasoning
Cognition Disorders - etiology
Cognition Disorders - rehabilitation
Dementia
Environment
Error analysis
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Regression Analysis
Reproducibility of Results
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - complications
Schizophrenic Psychology
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Cognitive functioning, particularly executive functioning, is a strong predictor of functional outcomes in people with schizophrenia. Cognitive remediation has been shown to improve specific cognitive processes, but adjunctive interventions are required for meaningful gains in adaptive functioning, particularly in people with chronic illness. This study examined whether (and how) environmental adaptations, used without training, may circumvent cognitive difficulties and facilitate everyday task performance in individuals with chronic schizophrenia. Forty-two individuals with chronic schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder were administered cognitive measures and two versions of the Naturalistic Action Test (NAT)—a standard version (ST-NAT), and a user-centered version (UC-NAT) that incorporated environmental adaptations designed to facilitate task performance. The NAT conditions were counterbalanced across participants. Analyses compared performance between the NAT versions and examined the cognitive correlates of each NAT condition. Individuals with schizophrenia made fewer errors on the UC-NAT as compared to the ST-NAT; this between-group difference was significant for all error types. Compared to the ST-NAT, the UC-NAT performance was not significantly associated with an executive function measure of planning. Environmental adaptations may be implemented without extensive training to improve everyday action in individuals with chronic schizophrenia. Environmental adaptations that reduce planning demands may be most effective in this population. (JINS, 2015, 21, 319–329)
ISSN:1355-6177
1469-7661
DOI:10.1017/S1355617715000260