Chess Training as add-on Intervention for Adolescents With Psychiatric and Psychosomatic Disorders

Chess Training as add-on Intervention for Adolescents With Psychiatric and Psychosomatic Disorders

In the planned study, the effect of chess training on the cognitive abilities of children and adolescents with psychiatric and psychosomatic illnesses will be investigated in a naturalistic setting. Furthermore, the effects on therapy success and quality of life will be determined.Despite the thoroughly positive results, CRT has not yet been included in the official guidelines as an intervention in standard therapy; this is due, among other things, to too few studies and too little knowledge in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry. The planned study aims to fill the research gap in the field of chess training as an adjunctive intervention in children and adolescents and to provide further evidence on the relevance of CRT in child and adolescent psychiatry.

The hypotheses of the proposed study are:

1. chess training as a six-week add-on intervention will improve cognitive functioning in adolescents with psychiatric/psychosomatic disorders compared to standard treatment.
2. chess training as a six-week add-on intervention improves quality of life in adolescents with psychiatric/psychosomatic disorders compared to standard treatment.
3. chess training as a six-week add-on intervention positively influences the course of therapy in adolescents with psychiatric/psychosomatic illnesses compared to standard treatment.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Inpatient treatment at the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of Childhood and Adolescence, ZI Mannheim
• Age between 13 and 17 years
• Sufficient ability to answer questions verbally and in written form
• Ability to give consent by patients and their parents after detailed verbal and written explanation
• Consent of patients and parents must be given in paper form

Exclusion Criteria:

• Date of inpatient admission more than 3 weeks ago
• Withdrawal of informed consent
• Severe psychiatric, neurological and internal medical comorbidities