Assessing executive functioning in schizophrenia: concurrent and discriminative validity of a novel virtual cooking task

Deficits in Executive functions (EF) are strongly related to daily functioning and negative symptoms in schizophrenia. Recently, virtual reality tasks have enabled more ecologically valid approaches to assess EF in simulated “real-life” scenarios. In this study, a novel immersive task based on a coo...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Adriasola, Asier, Cervera Torres, Sergio, Cañada, Yolanda, Chicchi Giglioli, Irene Alice, García Blanco, Ana, Sierra, Pilar, López Cerveró, María, Blanes Rodríguez, Chloe, Navalón, Pablo, Alcañiz Raya, Mariano
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Repositorio:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
OAI Identifier:oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/44775
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10578/44775
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Daily functioning
Executive functions
Negative symptoms
Schizophrenia
Virtual cooking task
Virtual reality
Descripción
Sumario:Deficits in Executive functions (EF) are strongly related to daily functioning and negative symptoms in schizophrenia. Recently, virtual reality tasks have enabled more ecologically valid approaches to assess EF in simulated “real-life” scenarios. In this study, a novel immersive task based on a cooking setting, the Virtual Cooking Task (VCT), is administered to clinically stable individuals with schizophrenia (n = 38) and healthy controls (n = 42). A set of computerized standard EF tools (CST) is also administered to primarily investigate concurrent and discriminant validity. Additionally, the study explored links between EF assessments, daily functioning, and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The VCT consisted of four tasks with increasing difficulty and time constraints. The most relevant findings indicate that: (i) the VCT showed moderate to strong correlations with CST; (ii) the VCT discriminated EF performance between the both groups; (iii) the VCT redicted interpersonal functioning; (iv) and VCT predicted negative symptoms in greater extent than CST. Accordingly, the findings support the concurrent and discriminant validity of VCT for assessing EF and its value in studying functional deficits and negative symptoms in schizophrenia. Thus, the VTC shows promise for potential implementation in clinical settings and trials targeting cognition.