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Masters Thesis

Neurocognitive prediction of sobriety skills acquisition in substance abusing persons with schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental disorder which causes many neurocognitive deficits, and these deficits may limit the rate at which persons with schizophrenia leam functional skills. Unfortunately, approximately 50% of persons with schizophrenia abuse illegal substances, which can exacerbate their symptoms. The purpose of this study was to teach persons with schizoplll'enia and substance abuse problems relapse prevention and harm reduction using the Substance Abuse Management Module (SAMM). We hypothesized that three aspects ofneurocognition (verbal secondary memory, visual secondary memory, and executive functioning) would be associated with greater leaming of sobriety skills from the SAMM intervention. Twentynine persons with schizophrenia (or another psychotic disorder) and a recent history of substance dependence were recruited from the Dual Diagnosis Treatment Program of the West LA Veterans Affairs Medical Center. They had a mean age of 48 years, mean education of 13 years, and had mixed ethnicities. Using a pre-post correlational design, we measured SAMM knowledge with the SAMM Content Mastery Test for Patients test before the intervention was given. We measured executive functioning with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, secondary verbal memory with the Logical Memory test, visual secondary memmy with the Rey Ostenieth Complex Figure Test, and psychiatric symptoms with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. SAMM knowledge was measured again following the intervention. Participants' SAMM knowledge improved after SAMM training. The number of cards sorted conectly during the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test significantly predicted the pmiicipants' learning of SAMM infmmation.

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