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. 2019 Jun 26;14(6):e0218720.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218720. eCollection 2019.

Social cognition remediation interventions: A systematic mapping review

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Social cognition remediation interventions: A systematic mapping review

Patricia Fernández-Sotos et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Impairments in social cognition have been described in several psychiatric and neurological disorders. Given the importance of the relationship between social cognition and functioning and quality of life in these disorders, there is a growing interest in social cognition remediation interventions. The aim of this study was to carry out a systematic mapping review to describe the state of the art in social cognition training and remediation interventions.

Methods: Publications from 2006 to 2016 on social cognition interventions were reviewed in four databases: Scopus, PsycINFO, PubMed and Embase. From the initial result set of 3229 publications, a final total of 241 publications were selected.

Results: The study revealed an increasing interest in social cognition remediation interventions, especially in the fields of psychiatry and psychology, with a gradual growth in the number of publications. These were frequently published in high impact factor journals and underpinned by robust scientific evidence. Most studies were conducted on schizophrenia, followed by autism spectrum disorders. Theory of mind and emotional processing were the focus of most interventions, whilst a limited number of studies addressed attributional bias and social perception. Targeted interventions in social cognition were the most frequent practice in the selected papers, followed by non-specific treatment interventions and broad-based interventions.

Conclusions: Research in social cognition remediation interventions is growing. Further studies are needed on attributional bias and social perception remediation programs, while the comparative efficacy of different interventions also remains unclear.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr. R. Rodriguez-Jimenez has been a consultant for, spoken in activities of, or received grants from: Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (FIS), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid Regional Government (S2010/ BMD-2422 AGES), Janssen- Cilag, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Pfizer, Ferrer, Juste. The other authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Steps for the process of extracting and selecting articles.
Fig 2
Fig 2
(a) Number of selected papers over publication years. (b) Number of references per year and level of scientific evidence.
Fig 3
Fig 3. References by domains of social cognition.
Venn diagram with four sets.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Categorization of papers in terms of social cognition domain and level of scientific evidence.

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