Efficacy of an attention training program in schizophrenia : a pilot study

Abstract

Attention impairment is a core cognitive deficit in schizophrenia. The aim of the present article was to assess the efficacy of an individualized attention training program, which focuses on selective attention and sustained attention. The sample was formed by 32 outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia, assigned to the experimental group or the control group. Attention, social functioning and subjective perception of cognitive deficits were assessed before and after training, and in a six-month follow up. In the post-treatment assessment, the experimental group patients obtained higher scores in attention, and in the isolation factor of the social functioning scale. There were no differences in the subjective perception of deficits. The attention training program proved effective in improving attention capacity as well as in some areas of social functioning; however, there were no changes in the subjective perception of their own deficits.