Insight and theory of mind in schizophrenia

PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH

卷:225

Article

Ng, Rowena¹  Fish, Scott^2,3  Granholm, Eric^4,5 

[1] Univ Minnesota, Inst Child Dev, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA

[2] Vet Affairs Boston Healthcare Syst, Boston, MA 02130 USA

[3] Harvard Univ, Sch Med, Dept Psychiat, Brockton, MA 02301 USA

[4] Vet Affairs San Diego Healthcare Syst, San Diego, CA 92161 USA

[5] Univ Calif San Diego, Dept Psychiat, La Jolla, CA 92037 USA

关键词: Schizophrenia;    Mentalization;    Cognitive insight;    Insight;    Theory of mind;    Social cognition;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.psychres.2014.11.010

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Theory of mind (ToM) impairment is common in individuals with schizophrenia and is associated with poor social functioning. Poor insight has also been linked to poor outcome in schizophrenia. Social developmental research has shown representations of self (insight) and representations of others (ToM) are related. In schizophrenia, contradictory reports of associations between insight and ToM have emerged, possibly due to a failure to account for neurocognitive impairments and symptoms associated with both mentalization constructs. This study investigated the relationships between ToM (intentions of others on the Hinting Task) and clinical and cognitive insight, while accounting for shared variance with neurocognitive impairment and symptom severity in 193 individuals with schizophrenia. Clinical, but not cognitive, insight was associated with ToM. A unique association between Awareness of Mental Illness and Hinting Task performance was found, independent of shared variance with neurocognition and symptoms. Importantly, ToM was found to mediate Awareness of Mental Illness and neurocognition. Results suggested that treatments targeting mentalization abilities that contribute to representations of self and others may improve insight deficits associated with poor outcome in schizophrenia. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

【 授权许可】

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