Effectiveness of the “Trisquel” board game intervention program for patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Abstract

[EN] Introduction. Schizophrenia spectrum disorders present emotional, cognitive and/or behavioural alterations relat ed to daily functioning. Therefore, it is necessary to develop intervention programs focused on the improvement of these constructs. The aim of this work is to analyse the effect of the intervention program “Trisquel” on cognitive functioning, symptomatologic perception and psychosocial functioning. Methodology. An experimental design was carried out with a total of 24 people with a diagnosis of schizophre nia spectrum disorder who were randomly assigned to the experimental/ “Trisquel” group and the control group. The “Trisquel” group carried out two structured sessions per week during three months, while the control group carried out cognitive stimulation sessions with the same frequency and intensity. Neuropsychological, clinical and functional tests were administered before and after the intervention. Results. After the intervention program in the “Trisquel” group, statistically significant improvements were found in the WAIS-III LetterNumber subtest (p=0.029), in the WAIS-III Working Memory index (p=0.020) , in Interpersonal Sensi tivity (p=0.015) and Paranoid Ideation (p=0.049) SCL-90-R and in psychosocial functioning EEAG (p=0.020). And in the control group, in WAIS-III Processing Speed index (p=0.034) WAIS-III and health perception SF-36 (p=0.017). Conclusions. The results of this study suggest that “Tris quel” may be an effective intervention program to induce improvements in working memory, in the symptomatologi cal dimensions of interpersonal sensitivity and paranoid ide ation, and in psychosocial functioning in people diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorder.