Motivation Skills Training to Enhance Functional Outcomes for People With Schizophrenia
Columbia University
Summary
This study will take place at four outpatient clinics serving adults with serious mental illness. Informed consent will be obtained from N=80 individuals with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illnesses (DSM)-5 diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria to participate in a randomized controlled trial comparing Motivation Skills Training (MST) to a Healthy Behaviors Control (HBC) group. Eligible participants will receive a baseline assessment including sociodemographic and psychosocial assessments, measures of motivation, goal attainment, and quality of life, as well as measures of executive skills, community functioning, and psychiatric symptoms severity. Both MST and HBC will be implemented as once weekly group therapies. The treatment phase is approximately 12-14 weeks. MST will focus on motivation knowledge and self-regulation skills while HBC will focus on physical health and health-related skills.
Description
Schizophrenia is a major public health problem associated with core motivational deficits that are amongst the strongest predictors of impaired functional outcomes. Without motivation, people are unable to maintain their pursuit of employment or educational goals, engage in treatment, and regularly participate in healthy life decisions. Current pharmacological and psychosocial treatments for schizophrenia have demonstrated limited effectiveness for improving this core symptom. Motivation Skills Training (MST) is a novel intervention that addresses this clinical need. The premise of MST is that…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age 18-65 2. DSM-5 Diagnosis of Schizophrenia or Schizoaffective Disorder 3. Medically and psychiatrically stable outpatient status 4. English Fluency Exclusion Criteria: 1. Indications of Intellectual Disability as documented in medical history or measured by \< 70 premorbid full scale Intelligence Quotient (IQ) estimate 2. Severe substance use within the past three months determined by DSM-5 criteria 3. Neurologic condition causing brain disease 4. Mild to severe cognitive impairment associated with possible dementia measured by a Mini Mental Status Exam score below…
Interventions
- BehavioralMotivation Skills Training
Participants will complete a baseline assessment, receive weekly MST sessions in a group format for a duration of 12 weeks, and will then repeat the assessment battery from baseline immediately following treatment completion and 2-months after.
- BehavioralHealthy Behaviors Control Group
Participants will complete a baseline assessment, receive weekly HBC sessions in a group format for a duration of 12 weeks, and will repeat the assessment battery from baseline immediately following treatment completion and 2-months after.
Locations (2)
- The Bridge, Inc.New York, New York
- New York State Office of Mental HealthNew York, New York