The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not PAK inhibitors are more effective in treating the symptoms of schizophrenia than atypical antipsychotic medications. Although atypical antipsychotic medications have become the medication of choice to reduce the prevalence of symptoms associated with schizophrenia, recent research has demonstrated that PAK inhibitors are also effective in reducing the symptoms of schizophrenia (Chen, Huang, Cheng, 2010; Komossa, Kluge & Hunger, 2013). PAK inhibitors differ from other types of medication as they are primarily used to treat cancer. Yet, research has demonstrated that PAK inhibitors do reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia in patients who do not respond well to atypical antipsychotic medications (Chen et. al., 2010). The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not PAK inhibitors are more effective than atypical antipsychotics in treating schizophrenia.
The hypothesis for this study is as follows: PAK inhibitors are more effective in decreasing both the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia than atypical antipsychotic medications.

All participants of this study (N=45) will be randomly assigned to a group. There will be three groups: 1. Participants treated with atypical antipsychotic medications, 2. Participants treated with PAK inhibitors, 3. Placebo group. In order to measure the effectiveness of each medication (or placebo) this research will use three separate assessments. The researcher will use the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and the Clinical Global Impression Assessment. These assessments were chosen as they are widely used to measure the symptoms of schizophrenia (Mortimer, 2007). In order to determine the effectiveness of each medication, the researcher will use pre and post data to compare how the individual’s symptoms are responding to the treatment being administered (varies by group). At the conclusion of this study, the researcher will enter the assessment results into SPSS. All data will be coded to reflect the participant’s scores on each assessment. The researcher will then run frequencies in order to determine the severity of symptoms the participant experienced during the three different intervals of the study. The researcher will then use a chi-squared test in order to determine whether or not one group experienced a fewer symptoms, based on the treatment being administered (Cottrell & McKenzie, 2013).

This study would not use an alpha value. Although alpha values are beneficial in measuring a specific target or goal, patients suffering from schizophrenia may have different symptoms and the beginning and end of the study. Furthermore, it is feasible that certain participants may respond better to certain treatment than others. This may skew the results and make it appear as though one group of participants is not responding to treatment as well as another group. Yet, schizophrenia has multiple symptoms, and some may respond better to a specific treatment. In order to assess each symptom, and how it responded to the treatment, the researcher will explore individualistic symptoms and the way the participant responded rather than focus on an alpha value (Cottrell & McKenzie, 2013).

Based on the hypothetical results, the researcher concluded that certain medications are more effective in treating schizophrenia than others. However, the results indicated that no treatment directly increases both the positive and negative symptoms participants’ experiences. Although atypical antipsychotics are beneficial in reducing the prevalence of symptoms an individual experiences, the long-term side effects in using this class of medication to treat schizophrenia have been well established (Komossa et. al., 2013). Even though PAK inhibitors were further shown to be beneficial in decreasing the symptoms of schizophrenia, the long-term effects of this group of medications are unknown. Therefore, future research should be conducted in order to determine how the continued administration of PAK inhibitors affects the patient’s health.