Can a phone app teach the brain to read social cues?
NCT ID NCT07755605
First seen Aug 10, 2026 · Last updated Aug 21, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This trial tests whether a smartphone app called AffectUs can help people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder better recognize emotions and interpret social situations. Participants use the app for 10 weeks, five times a week, while continuing their usual treatment. The study compares them to a group receiving educational materials, measuring changes in social cognition and safety over 15 weeks.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- A smartphone-based digital therapeutic application (AffectUs) that provides structured social cognition training, used for 10 weeks alongside usual treatment.
- What this could lead to
- If effective, AffectUs could offer a scalable, accessible way to improve social cognition and daily functioning for people with schizophrenia.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early, small trial (60 participants) testing preliminary effectiveness. The app may not outperform standard education, and benefits might not persist after the 10-week program.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 60 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jul 2026
- Expected to finish
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Mar 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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19 to 60 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
A. Inclusion Criteria Participants must meet all of the following criteria: 1. Adults aged 19 to 60 years. 2. Meet the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder according to DSM-5 and ICD-11. 3. Have completed at least a middle school education. 4. Be able to read and write in Korean. 5. Be able to use a smartphone application independently. 6. Provide written informed consent before participation. 7. Receiving stable antipsychotic treatment (dose variation ≤30%) for at least 3 months before enrollment. Exclusion Criteria 1. Current or past diagnosis of intellectual disability. 2. Initiation of or current participation in structured psychosocial interventions (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy or social cognition training) within the past 3 months. 3. Considered by the investigator to be at significant risk of suicide. 4, Pregnant or having a positive pregnancy test at screening. 5\. Any condition that, in the opinion of the investigator, would make participation unsafe or interfere with study participation or data interpretation.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Samsung Medical Center
RECRUITINGSeoul, 06351, South Korea
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