The relationship between neurocognition and symptomatology in people with schizophrenia: social cognition as the mediator

BMC Psychiatry

Tatia MC Lee¹  Adrian Raine²  Bess YH Lam³ 

[1] Institute of Clinical Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China;Departments of Criminology, Psychiatry, and Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 3809 Walnut Street, Jerry Lee Centre of Criminology, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA;Laboratory of Neuropsychology, The Jockey Club Tower, The University of Hong Kong, Rm656, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

关键词: Emotion;    Schizophrenia;    Theory of mind;    Eyes test;    Faux pas;    Cognition;   

Others  :  1123592
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-244X-14-138

 received in 2013-10-08, accepted in 2014-05-02,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

The relationship between neurocognition and symptomatology in people with schizophrenia has been established. The present study examined whether social cognition could mediate this relationship.

Methods

There were 119 participants (58 people with paranoid schizophrenia and 61 healthy controls) participated in this study. Neurocognition was assessed by Raven’s Progressive Matrices Test, the Judgment of Line Orientation Test, and the Tower of London Test. Psychiatric symptoms in people with schizophrenia were assessed by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Social cognition was measured by the Faux Pas Test, the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Test, and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index.

Results

Results were consistent with previous findings that neurocognition and social cognition were impaired in the clinical participants. A novel observation is that social cognition significantly mediated the relationship between neurocognition and symptomatology.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that neurocognitive deficits predispose people with schizophrenia to worse psychiatric symptoms through the impairment of social cognition. Findings of the present study provide important insight into a functional model of schizophrenia that could guide the development of cost-effective interventions for people with schizophrenia.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Lam et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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