Efficacy of Metacognitive Training in a Chilean Sample of People with Schizophrenia

Abstract

Introduction: Moritz et al.'s metacognitive training (MCT), a new development of cognitive therapy, is a manualized group training program, designed to correct cognitive biases involved in the formation and maintenance of psychotic symptoms, especially delusions. We report on the efficacy of MCT in a Chilean sample of people with schizophrenia.

Methods: 50 outpatients from the Hospital Del Salvador at Valparaíso, Chile, were randomly assigned to the intervention group (MCT), or the control group, that only received treatment as usual (TAU). Subjects were assessed at the beginning and end of the study with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Cognitive Biases Questionnaire for Psychosis (CBQ-P) and Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS).

Results: In the MCT group, we found larger, statistically significant improvements, in symptoms, cognitive biases and cognitive insight, than in the control group. However, after a direct comparison of both groups, only the improvement in psychotic symptoms for the MCT group, remained significantly different.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggest superiority of MCT over TAU in the amelioration of positive symptoms. We could not, however demonstrate its superiority in the improvement of the cognitive biases and cognitive insight.

Keywords: Delirios; Delusions; Esquizofrenia; Metacognición; Metacognition; Psicoterapia; Psychotherapy; Schizophrenia.