“ROLE OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION IN RESPONSE TO A PROBLEM-SOLVING BASED PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION IN ADOLESCENTS WITH PSYCHOSIS: THE PIENSA TRIAL REVISITED”
Poster C11, Wednesday, October%2010, 11:30%20am%20-%201:00%20pm, Essex%20Ballroom
Francisco Camino Sánchez1, Maria Mayoral2, Carmen Moreno2, Ana Ruíz-Sancho3, Celso Arango2, Marta Rapado-Castro2,4; 1Physiology Department, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain., 2Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, IiSGM, CIBERSAM, Madrid, Spain., 33VocAcción Director-Group Processes and Institutional Consulting, Madrid, Spain, 4Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne& Melbourne Health, Victoria, Australia
An improvementin negative symptoms and a reduction in the number of visits to the emergency departmenthave previously been observedin a problem-solving based psychoeducational group intervention (PE) for adolescents with psychosis and their parents, relative to a non-structured group intervention (NS).One of the factors that may be playing a role on the response to PE treatment is executive function,a crucial cognitive domain for problem solvingperformance.The present study aims to examine the role of executive function in response to PE treatmentin comparison with a NS group. Correlation analyses wereused to examine the associations between changes in clinical/functional variables (2-years follow up minus baseline)and changes in cognition(z-scores) within each treatment group.In order to analyse the predictive value of changes in cognition overclinical/functional outcomes, linear and multiple regression models were conducted. A total sample of 28 individuals (Mean age: 16,14 ; range [14-17]) were randomized to PE (N=11) and NS (N=17). We found an association between an improvement in executive function performance and a reduction of positive [F(2,6)=7,04 p=0,02 R=0,602] and negative symptoms[F(1,7)=3,21 p=0,11 R=0,315]; an improvement in general functioning [F(1,7) =8,1 p=0,025 , R=0,537] and a reduction in the number of visits to the emergency department [F(1,7)=5,32 p=0,05 R=0,432] in the PE group. No associations were found in the NS group.Our results suggest that executive function may play a role in the specific symptom reduction, improved general functioning and diminished number of visits to emergency department two years after the interventionobserved in the PEgroup. Thismay haveimplications in the development of new areas of clinical intervention focusing on the role of cognitive functioningin response to psychosocialtreatments in psychosis
Topic Area: Psychosocial Interventions