Cognitive enhancement therapy improves emotional intelligence in early course schizophrenia: Preliminary effects

Eack, Shaun M.; Hogarty, Gerard E.; Greenwald, Deborah P.; Hogarty, Susan S.; Keshavan, Matcheri S.

doi:10.1016/j.schres.2006.08.018

« Previous Next »Schizophrenia Research
Volume 89, Issue 1 , Pages 308-311, January 2007

Cognitive enhancement therapy improves emotional intelligence in early course schizophrenia: Preliminary effects

Shaun M. Eack
- Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3811 O'Hara St., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States
Gerard E. Hogarty
- Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3811 O'Hara St., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States
Deborah P. Greenwald
- Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3811 O'Hara St., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States
Susan S. Hogarty
- Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3811 O'Hara St., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States
Matcheri S. Keshavan
- Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3811 O'Hara St., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, United States
- Corresponding author.

Received 13 June 2006; received in revised form 12 August 2006; accepted 16 August 2006. published online 23 October 2006.

Abstract

This research examined the preliminary effects of Cognitive Enhancement Therapy (CET) on social cognition in early course schizophrenia, using an objective, performance-based measure of emotional intelligence. Individuals in the early course of schizophrenia were randomly assigned to either CET (n=18) or Enriched Supportive Therapy (n=20), and assessed at baseline and after 1 year of treatment with the Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test. A series of analyses of covariance showed highly significant (p=.005) and large (Cohen's d=.96) effects favoring CET for improving emotional intelligence, with the most pronounced improvements occurring in patients' ability to understand and manage their own and others' emotions. These findings lend preliminary support to the previously documented benefits of CET on social cognition in schizophrenia, and suggest that such benefits can be extended to patients in the early course of the illness.