Self-regulation Strategies to Improve Exercise Behavior Among Schizophrenic Patients
Condition: Schizophrenia; Schizo-affective Disorder
MeSH terms: Schizophrenia; Mood Disorders; Psychotic Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Patients who suffer from diseases of the schizophrenia spectrum are frequently burdened by
      weight gain. Sport programs have been shown to improve somatic and psychological health.
      However, the motivation to participate in sports therapy is usually impaired due to
      illness-related factors such as anhedonia and negative symptoms. Previous attempts to
      increase participation in sports therapy have used psycho-educational and behavioral attempts
      that require a lot of resources. In this study the investigators will use a brief method
      developed in experimental social psychology to build up implementation intentions. This
      method has been shown to improve psychological test performance in schizophrenia patients but
      has never been used in a clinical context.

      In two psychiatric hospitals, in-patients with schizophrenia who have been examined by a
      medical doctor, for whom any medical concerns for sports therapy participation have been
      excluded and who declared their motivation to participate in an existing standard sports
      exercise program will be recruited for the study. After information on the study and signing
      of an informed consent patients will be randomly assigned to two treatment conditions. In the
      control condition, the main therapist will individually deliver a 10-minute psycho-education
      on the helpfulness of sports to improve the health; this will be repeated in a shorter form
      in the regular individual treatment sessions over the following weeks. The intervention
      condition will use a structured procedure of the same duration to build up implementation
      intentions to participate in the sports therapy. The implementation intentions will briefly
      be repeated and updated in the following session.

      Primary outcome variables will be percentage of attended sport therapy sessions, persistence
      and compliance. Secondary outcome variables will be Body Mass Index. As confounding variables
      the investigators will assess amount of anti-psychotic medication in Chlorpromazine
      equivalents, negative and depressive symptoms, usual sport activities and cognitive
      impairments.

      The investigators expect that building up implementation intentions will increase
      participation, persistence and compliance of the patients in the sports and exercise therapy
      program compared to the patients who just have received psycho-education.
    


Intervention name(s): Implementation Intentions
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): In a 10 minute structured therapy session patients are assisted to build up implementation intentions to participate in the sports program.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: schizophrenia; exercise; sport; weight control; fitness