Metacognitive Training in Schizophrenia (MCT)

March 2, 2015 updated by: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf

Metacognitive Training (MCT) Compared With Cognitive Remediation (CR) in Schizophrenia: a Randomized Controlled Study Over 4 Weeks

Over a period of 4 weeks, metacognitive training for schizophrenia patients (MCT), delivered both in a group and individually, is compared to cognitive remediation (CogPack training). Blind to treatment assignment, both groups are assessed before intervention and four weeks later with the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), the Psychosis Rating Scales (PSYRATS) and cognitive tests. Delusion severity serves as the primary endpoint. It is assumed that MCT will improve delusion severity to a greater extent than CR in the course of 4 weeks taking medication into account.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Metacognitive training for schizophrenia patients (MCT) is a manualized group intervention that can be obtained cost-free online. MCT seeks to sharpen the awareness of schizophrenia spectrum patients on cognitive biases (e.g. jumping to conclusions) contributing to delusion formation and maintenance and conveys cognitive strategies to counter these. The present trial combines group MCT with an individualized cognitive-behavioral oriented approach entitled MCT+. Patients with schizophrenia are randomly allocated to either metacognitive treatment (MCT) or cognitive remediation (CogPack training). Blind to treatment assignment, both groups are assessed prior to intervention and four weeks later with the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), the Psychosis Rating Scales (PSYRATS) and cognitive tasks. Delusion scores derived from the PANSS and PSYRATS serve as main outcome parameters. We also explore if MCT improves jumping to conclusions with a probabilistic reasoning task. To make results as generalizable as possible to a typical inpatient population, broad inclusion criteria are chosen. Patients are only excluded if age is < 18 and > 65 years and diagnoses do not meet criteria of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Germany
      • Hamburg, Germany, 20246
        • University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years to 61 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • schizophrenia spectrum disorder

Exclusion Criteria:

  • intellectual disability (IQ < 70)
  • unable to provide informed consent
  • hostility on PANSS > 4
  • suspiciousness on PANSS > 5

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Cognitive Remediation
Computerized cognitive remediation (CogPack training). A fixed series is administered, which covers a wide range of neuropsychological exercises involving memory, reasoning, selective attention and psychomotor speed. The difficulty level for each patient is adapted automatically depending on to the subject's performance on prior exercises. At the end of each session, the patient receives individual feedback on his or her performance. To match with group MCT, eight sessions are administered. Each session lasts approximately 45-60 minutes.
Behavioral: Cognitive Remediation
Group (8 sessions) and individualized metacognitive training (9 sessions), delivered by psychologists versus cognitive remediation (8 sessions) delivered by either psychologists or psychology students at an advanced master level
Experimental: Metacognitive Training
The group metacognitive training program (MCT) is fully documented (Moritz, Woodward, & Metacognition Study Group, 2007; VanHam Campus Press) and can be obtained in more than 15 languages cost-free via the following link: www.uke.de/mkt. The group program is delivered to groups of 3-10 patients by trained psychologists addressing delusion-related metacognitive biases (e.g., jumping to conclusions). The eight modules are presented via a video projector using pdf-converted Power-Point slides. Each group session lasts approximately 45-60 minutes. Individualized MCT (MCT+) follows group sessions and accords to the general guidelines for cognitive-behavioral therapy. For each patient, 8 one-to-one sessions were carried in addition to one session relating to the medical history.
Behavioral: Metacognitive training
Group (8 sessions) and individualized metacognitive training (9 sessions), delivered by psychologists versus cognitive remediation (8 sessions) delivered by either psychologists or psychology students at an advanced master level

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
delusion severity as assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS); sum of item scores p1, p5, p6 and g9
Time Frame: 4 weeks
4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Steffen Moritz, PhD, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 5, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 8, 2009

First Posted (Estimate)

December 9, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 3, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 2, 2015

Last Verified

March 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • MCT

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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