Aim: The aim of this pilot project was to determine the recruitment feasibility for a computerized cognitive remediation treatment (CRT) for youth at-risk of serious mental illness (SMI), and treatment adherence following an adjunct treatment of motivational interviewing (MI).
Methods: Twelve youth at-risk of SMI were randomized to receive either CRT or CRT plus MI. CRT was conducted over 10 wk during which time 5 MI sessions were available for the CRT + MI group.
Results: The recruitment rate was 55%. The attrition rate from the study was 25% and on average participants completed 33% of the CRT sessions, with no group differences in the number of CRT sessions completed.
Conclusions: Treatment adherence was low. Participants described the CRT as easy and unchallenging. Future recommendations include engaging youth at-risk into CRT programs based on cognitive deficits, measuring intervention satisfaction and offering access to supportive therapies for concerns other than cognition.
Keywords: at-risk youth; attenuated syndromes; cognition; cognitive remediation; motivational interviewing.
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.