Cognition and Other Targets for the Treatment of Aggression in People with Schizophrenia - Abstract
Schizophrenia spectrum disorders are associated with an increased risk of violent offending in comparison to non-clinical samples, which in turn puts both victims and perpetrators of schizophrenia-related violence at risk of harm. There are currently few interventions for aggression in schizophrenia with existing treatments demonstrating limited efficacy. The impact of several factors—neurocognition, social cognition, alexithymia, emotion regulation capacity, and the treatment milieu—on aggression in people with schizophrenia creates an opportunity for the development and/or evaluation of new treatments for aggression. The authors recommend studies into the possible anti-aggressive benefits of treatments that target these factors. The etiological heterogeneity of aggression in schizophrenia calls for the development of a comprehensive treatment program that targets several contributors to aggression.