A pilot study of functional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (fCBT) for schizophrenia

Background: The feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a novel cognitive behavioral treatment for decreasing psychotic symptoms and improving social functioning was evaluated in a pilot study. This represents the first treatment outcome study of CBT for psychosis with a manualized, active comparison condition. Methods: Thirty outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, depressed type with residual psychotic symptoms were randomly assigned to either 16 weekly sessions of functional cognitive behavioral therapy (fCBT) or psychoeducation (PE) with assessments conducted at baseline and post-treatment by blind evaluators. Results: Attrition was only 7% and did not differ between fCBT and PE, indicating good tolerability of both treatments. For this sample with persistent symptoms, between groups effects were not significantly different, but within group effect sizes indicated greater treatment benefit for fCBT on positive symptoms, particularly for the PSYRATS voices subscale. Conclusion: The results suggest that fCBT is well tolerated and holds promise for reducing persistent positive symptoms.