Cognitive Remediation in Youth at Risk of Serious Mental Illness

Individuals identified to be at clinical high risk of psychosis (CHR) of psychosis already evidence cognitive deficits, which increase around the time of conversion. Much less is known about individuals that may be at risk of other serious mental disorders (SMI). However, early reports are suggesting that young people at risk of SMI who are deemed to have "attenuated syndromes" according to the clinical staging model of mental health disorders already evidence cognitive deficits. Therefore, cognition is an excellent treatment target. Furthermore, there is clear evidence, in both established psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder, and in CHR samples, that deficits in cognition are associated to poor functional outcome. Thus, treatments targeting cognition may consequently improve functional outcome. This is a pilot project to determine feasibility and sample size for a large randomized controlled trial of cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) in people at risk of SMI with CIHR and AIHS funding targets. The primary aim of the project is to test the effectiveness of a novel computerized CRT program in improving cognition in youth at risk of SMI following the addition of a counseling intervention, MI, to improve adherence to CRT. One group will receive CRT and the other CRT plus MI. Hypotheses: 1. Both study groups will have improvement in cognition at the end of treatment; 2. CRT+MI group will have increased treatment adherence and superior improvements in cognition at the end of treatment and 12 months post baseline compared to the CRT only group; Secondary Hypothesis: 3. Improved cognition will be associated with improved functional outcome. This is a longitudinal, single blind, controlled pilot trial of CRT in persons at risk of SMI. Twenty-eight participants will be recruited from the Adolescent Mental Health: Canadian Psychiatric Risk and Outcome Study (PROCAN) study at the Calgary site led by Dr. J. Addington. Participants in the PROCAN project who meet operationally defined criteria as being at risk of SMI by meeting attenuated syndromes criteria will be included. Participants will be randomized to either the CRT condition consisting of a novel program called My Brain Fitness (MBS) and motivational interviewing (MI) or a control condition consisting of CRT alone, and will receive training that will be administered over a period of 10 weeks. Assessments will occur at baseline, post treatment (3 months) and at 12 months after baseline. Half of all participants will receive individual 1 hr MI once every 2 weeks for the duration of the cognitive remediation component of the study. The study clinicians who are master level psychologists, will deliver MI ensuring engagement of study participants. Time spent in therapy will be monitored and recorded. All of the data necessary for this study will be collected as part of the PROCAN assessment at baseline and 12 months. The one exception is that we will do an assessment of cognitive function, clinical symptoms and functional outcome at 10 weeks or immediately post treatment, which will take approximately 2.5 hours.