A network approach exploring the effects of cognitive remediation on cognition, symptoms, and functioning in early psychosis.

Background: Although cognitive remediation (CR) improves cognition and functioning, the key features that promote or inhibit its effectiveness, especially between cognitive domains, remain unknown. Discovering these key features will help to develop CR for more impact.

Aim: To identify interrelations between cognition, symptoms, and functioning, using a novel network analysis approach and how CR affects these recovery outcomes.

Methods: A secondary analysis of randomized controlled trial data (N = 165) of CR in early psychosis. Regularized partial correlation networks were estimated, including symptoms, cognition, and functioning, for pre-, post-treatment, and change over time. Pre- and post-CR networks were compared on global strength, structure, edge invariance, and centrality invariance.

Results: Cognition, negative, and positive symptoms were separable constructs, with symptoms showing independent relationships with cognition. Negative symptoms were central to the CR networks and most strongly associated with change in functioning. Verbal and visual learning improvement showed independent relationships to improved social functioning and negative symptoms. Only visual learning improvement was positively associated with personal goal achievement. Pre- and post-CR networks did not differ in structure (M = 0.20, p = 0.45) but differed in global strength, reflecting greater overall connectivity in the post-CR network (S = 0.91, p = 0.03).

Conclusions: Negative symptoms influenced network changes following therapy, and their reduction was linked to improvement in verbal and visual learning following CR. Independent relationships between visual and verbal learning and functioning suggest that they may be key intervention targets to enhance social and occupational functioning.