Enhancing Social Connection and Cognition to Improve Mental Health

Session Submission Type: Invited Session (90 minute)

Description

Diminished social connections and cognitive functioning are both cause and consequence of serious mental illness. Whether reflecting abuse, neglect, trauma, social stigma, or neurological conditions, diminished social connections and cognitive functioning increase the risk of developing serious mental illness and decrease the odds of recovery. These challenges are the primary cause of diminished community functioning for people diagnosed with schizophrenia and major depression, rather than the psychotic and affective symptoms that are, respectively, their diagnostic hallmarks. Nor do the psychotropic medications prescribed for these diagnoses help to restore social and cognitive functioning. Instead, randomized clinical trials have identified interventions that engage participants in social activities and cognitive exercises as the key to improving social and cognitive functioning. Each panelist presents related research from this sociological perspective. Laura Golden presents a qualitative analysis of participant experience in year-long psychosocial interventions involving weekly group sessions, drawing on intensive interviews of randomly selected participants within the first and last months of each group. Brea Perry presents research on the interrelated roles of personal social networks, biomarkers, social psychology, and social inequality in mental illness and substance use disorders. Dawn Robinson presents research on the production, conservation, and alteration of macro-level social structures during face-to-face interaction, using theories of identity and emotion that model the link between structure, culture, and individual social action and experience. Russell Schutt reviews process, outcomes, and theoretical implications from a cluster-randomized comparative effectiveness trial of two interventions that used structured group engagement and cognitive remediation to enhance social and community functioning among individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia-spectrum diagnoses. Russell Schutt will serve as the session chair and Bernice Pescosolido as the discussant.

Sub Unit

• Special Session

Presider

• Russell K. Schutt, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Individual Presentations

• Social Engagement and the Recovery Process - Laura Golden, University of Massachusetts-Boston

• Social Networks, Stigma, and Serious Mental Illness - Brea Louise Perry, Indiana University-Bloomington; Allen D. Grimshaw, Indiana University

• Social Interaction, Emotional Responses, and Mental Health - Dawn T. Robinson, University of Georgia

• Social Interventions to Improve Community Functioning in Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders - Russell K. Schutt, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Discussant

• Bernice A. Pescosolido, Indiana University-Bloomington

Session Organizer

• Russell K. Schutt, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center