NCT02593058

Positive Emotions Program for Schizophrenia (PEPS)

Positive Emotions Program for Schizophrenia (PEPS): A Randomized Controlled Study on Improving Pleasure and Motivation in Schizophrenia

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 80 (actual)
• Sponsor: Institut et Haute Ecole de la Santé la Source · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study evaluates the addition of a 8 session psychological program, called Positive Emotions Program for Schizophrenia (PEPS) to improve motivation and pleasure in adults with schizophrenia. Half of the participants will receive their usual treatment and PEPS in combination, while the other half will receive usual treatment only.

Detailed description

Recent literature has distinguished the negative symptoms associated with a diminished capacity to experience (apathy, anhedonia) from those which are associated with a limited capacity for expression (emotional blunting, alogia). The apathy-anhedonia syndrome tends to be associated with a poorer prognosis than the symptoms related to diminished expression, suggesting that it is the more severe facet of the psychopathology. However the efficacy of drug-based treatments and psychological interventions on primary negative symptoms remains limited. There is a clear clinical need for developing treatments for negative symptoms. The Positive Emotions Programs for Schizophrenia (PEPS) teaches skills to help overcome defeatist thinking and to increase the anticipation and maintenance of positive emotions. PEPS involves eight one-hour group sessions, administered using visual and audio materials as part of a PowerPoint presentation of slides projected onto a screen. The goal of the study is to establish if PEPS is clinically effective by using a randomized, controlled and assessor-blind trial. A combination of PEPS plus treatment as usual will be compared to treatment as usual alone. Participants diagnosed with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder will undergo either intervention for eight weeks. Testing will evaluate individuals' current psychopathology and ability to savor pleasure and will be performed at the time of inclusion, at the end of the eight-week intervention and at six month follow-up.

Conditions

• Schizophrenia
• Schizoaffective Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Positive Emotions Program for Schizophrenia	Each session of PEPS includes relaxation-meditation exercise, review of homework task given during the previous session, exercises to challenge defeatist beliefs. According to the session's theme, participants learn skills to improve their anticipation or maintenance of pleasure such as savoring a pleasant experience, expressing emotions by increasing behavioral expression, capitalizing on positive moments, and anticipating pleasant moments. A simple homework task is assigned to be done between each session. The pedagogical concept underpinning the program was built according to Kolb and Kolb's model of experiential learning. The program uses a collaborative, egalitarian approach.
BEHAVIORAL	Treatment As Usual	TAU consists of psychiatric management by a clinical team composed of at least one psychiatrist and a social worker and/or a psychiatric nurse with additional access to community treatment or hospital admission. Treatment involves antipsychotic medication, regular office-based or community contact with the clinical team for treatment monitoring, and socialization groups, therapy, and psychoeducational groups. No attempts have been made to standardize this treatment as TAU is tailored to the patient's specific needs.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-02-01
• Primary completion: 2017-12-31
• Completion: 2018-12-31
• First posted: 2015-10-30
• Last updated: 2019-03-25

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Switzerland