Metacognitive Training (MCT) for Patients with Schizophrenia: Preliminary Evidence for a Targeted Module Program

Objective: The present study focussed on testing the efficacy of a newly implemented metacognitive training (MCT) program. This program is designed to reduce a patient’s susceptibility to the cognitive biases assumed to play a role in delusion formation and maintenance, and thereby also reduce one’s delusional conviction, preoccupation, and distress, whilst improving clinical insight into one’s illness and satisfaction with life. A critical component of evaluating the effectiveness of the MCT program is observing whether a patient’s vulnerability to the cognitive biases (assumed to underlie delusion formation and maintenance) has been reduced post-training. Specifically, the current study is an investigation into using a shorter, more targeted version of the MCT program, using only two of the eight original modules, which focus on reducing a patient’s tendency to become hyper-salient to evidence-hypothesis matches.