Group therapy for schizophrenia: A meta-analysis.

The effectiveness of group treatments for people with schizophrenia has not been examined on symptom-specific (positive and negative symptoms) outcomes, and the differential effects of the most popular group treatments remain unknown. We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that tested (a) the effectiveness of 7 frequently used group treatments on positive and negative symptoms and (b) if treatment-specific outcome improvement was associated with improvement on schizophrenia symptoms. Major databases were searched from 1990 to 2018 for randomized controlled trials of group treatment for people with schizophrenia, including first-episode psychosis. A random effects meta-analysis and meta-regression was conducted on 52 studies representing 4,156 individuals that produced a significant, small effect on symptom-specific outcomes (g = 0.30), with 4 group treatments (cognitive remediation, multifamily, psychoeducational, and social skills training) posting significant improvement. In addition, change on treatment-specific outcomes explained 16% of schizophrenia symptom and 44% of general functioning improvement. Results are discussed with respect to how they replicate past meta-analytic findings and possible revision of practice guidelines to incorporate evidence-based group treatments for schizophrenia. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The Association Between Experimentally Induced Stress, Performance Monitoring, and Response Inhibition: An Event-Related Potential (ERP) Analysis.

Psychological stress is increasingly associated with alterations in performance and affect. Yet, the relationship between experimentally induced psychological stress and neural indices of performance monitoring and error processing, as well as response inhibition, are unclear. Using scalp-recorded event-related potentials (ERPs), we tested the relationship between experimental stress, using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), and the error-related negativity (ERN), error positivity (Pe), and N2 ERP components. A final sample of 71 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to go through the TSST (n = 36; 18 female) or a brief mindfulness relaxation exercise (n = 35; 16 female) immediately followed by a go/no-go task while electroencephalogram (EEG) data were collected. Salivary cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure confirmed increased physiological stress in the TSST group relative to control. Reaction times, accuracy, and post-error slowing did not differ by stress group. Two-group (TSST, control) by 2-trial type (correct, incorrect for ERN/Pe; go correct, no-go correct for N2) repeated measures ANOVAs for the ERN, Pe, and N2 showed the expected main effects of trial type; neither the ERN nor the N2 ERP components showed interactions with the stress manipulation. In contrast, the Pe component showed a significant Group by Trial interaction, with reduced Pe amplitude following the stress condition relative to control. Pe amplitude did not, however, correlate with cortisol reactivity. Findings suggest a reduction in Pe amplitude following experimental stress that may be associated with reduced error awareness or attention to errors following the TSST. Given the variability in the extant literature on the relationship between experimentally induced stress and neurophysiological reflections of performance monitoring, we provide another point of data and conclude that better understanding of moderating variables is needed followed by high-powered replication studies to get at the nuance that is not yet understood in the relationship between induced stress and performance monitoring/response inhibition processes.

Stratified performance on the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) is associated with differential responding on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI).

Introduction: This study evaluated symptom endorsement patterns in participants at various stratified performance levels on the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM). It was hypothesized that the lowest stratum (chance performance and below) would have the most pathological (i.e., elevated item endorsement) responding on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) validity and clinical scales. This study was primarily a replication of previous work with emphasis on the PAI scales and consideration of varying degrees of performance on TOMM Trial 2.Methods: Participants were 760 (54% female, 85.4% Caucasian, mean age = 42.01 (SD = 15.89), mean education = 13.55 (SD = 2.35)) consecutively referred neuropsychological outpatients who completed the TOMM and PAI. Participants were placed in one of 5 stratified TOMM Trial 2 performance level groups (High Pass, Low Pass, High Fail, Low Fail, and Chance). No significant differences were found between the demographic variables except for referral source, which was overrepresented in the Chance group relative to the other groups.Results: Due to the highly skewed nature of TOMM Trial 2, Spearman rank order correlations were calculated for the 5 stratified levels of TOMM performance and all the main PAI scales. The NIM, SOM, DEP, ANX, SCZ and SUI scales had significant correlations, so a series of One-way ANOVAs were calculated to examine these scales at different TOMM stratified performance levels. Results indicated that the Chance group had the highest level of responding on all scales, with NIM, SOM, DEP, SCZ and SUI having mean elevations above the clinical cutoff (T = 70).Conclusions: Results were consistent with previous pass-fail PVT research, but extended earlier research to provide evidence that Chance performance group had more pathological PAI responding. The results provide preliminary evidence to support the notion that patients who fail PVTs at different levels do not have the same characteristics.

Cognitive control adjustments in healthy older and younger adults: Conflict adaptation, the error-related negativity (ERN), and evidence of generalized decline with age.

Older adults display alterations in neural reflections of conflict-related processing. We examined response times (RTs), error rates, and event-related potential (ERP; N2 and P3 components) indices of conflict adaptation (i.e., congruency sequence effects) a cognitive control process wherein previous-trial congruency influences current-trial performance, along with post-error slowing, correct-related negativity (CRN), error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) amplitudes in 65 healthy older adults and 94 healthy younger adults. Older adults showed generalized slowing, had decreased post-error slowing, and committed more errors than younger adults. Both older and younger adults showed conflict adaptation effects; magnitude of conflict adaptation did not differ by age. N2 amplitudes were similar between groups; younger, but not older, adults showed conflict adaptation effects for P3 component amplitudes. CRN and Pe, but not ERN, amplitudes differed between groups. Data support generalized declines in cognitive control processes in older adults without specific deficits in conflict adaptation.