fMRI BOLD responses to film stimuli and their association with exhaled nitric oxide in asthma and health.

Little is known about central nervous system (CNS) responses to emotional stimuli in asthma. Nitric oxide in exhaled breath (FENO) is elevated in asthma due to allergic immune processes, but endogenous nitric oxide is also known to modulate CNS activity. We measured fMRI blood oxygen-dependent (BOLD) brain activation to negative (blood-injection-injury themes) and neutral films in 31 participants (15 with asthma). Regions-of-interest analysis was performed on key areas relevant to central adaptive control, threat processing, or salience networks, with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), anterior insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), amygdala, ventral striatum, ventral tegmentum, and periaqueductal gray, as well as top-down modulation of emotion, with ventrolateral and ventromedial PFC. Both groups showed less BOLD deactivation from fixation cross-baseline in the left anterior insula and bilateral ventromedial PFC for negative than neutral films, and for an additional number of areas, including the fusiform gyrus, for film versus recovery phases. Less deactivation during films followed by less recovery from deactivation was found in asthma compared to healthy controls. Changes in PCO2 did not explain these findings. FENO was positively related to BOLD activation in general, but more pronounced in healthy controls and more likely in neutral film processing. Thus, asthma is associated with altered processing of film stimuli across brain regions not limited to central adaptive control, threat processing, or salience networks. Higher levels of NO appear to facilitate CNS activity, but only in healthy controls, possibly due to allergy's masking effects on FENO.

Towards the understanding of the core of general personality disorder factor: g-PD and its relation to hostile attributions.

There is a general consensus that personality disorders (PDs) share a general factor (g-PD) overlapping with the general factor of psychopathology (p-factor). The general psychopathology factor is related to many social dysfunctions, but its nature still remains to some extent ambiguous. We posit that hostile attributions may be explanatory for the factor common for all PDs, i.e., interpersonal problems and difficulty in building long-lasting and satisfying relationships of all kinds. Thus, the main objective of the current project was to expand the existing knowledge about underlying factors of g-PD with regard to hostile attributions. We performed a cross-sectional study on a representative, community sample of Poles (N = 1031). Our hypotheses were primarily confirmed as hostile attributions predicted p-factor. However, the relation was positive only for hostile attributions related to ambiguous situations involving relational harm and physical harm done by female authorities and negative in case of hostile attributions in situations involving physical harm done by peers. Additionally, paranoia-like thoughts strongly related to hostile attributions and independently predicted g-PD. The results contribute to the current discussion on the nature of the g-PD, confirm that hostile attributions and paranoia are a crucial aspect of personality pathology, and indicate the importance of working on these cognitions in the course of therapeutic work.

Confidence, accuracy judgments and feedback in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: a time series network analysis.

BACKGROUND: Inaccurate self-assessment of performance is common among people with serious mental illness, and it is associated with poor functional outcomes independent from ability. However, the temporal interdependencies between judgments of performance, confidence in accuracy, and feedback about performance are not well understood. METHODS: We evaluated two tasks: the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Penn Emotion recognition task (ER40). These tasks were modified to include item-by-item confidence and accuracy judgments, along with feedback on accuracy. We evaluated these tasks as time series and applied network modeling to understand the temporal relationships between momentary confidence, accuracy judgments, and feedback. The sample constituted participants with schizophrenia (SZ; N = 144), bipolar disorder (BD; N = 140), and healthy controls (HC; N = 39). RESULTS: Network models for both WCST and ER40 revealed denser and lagged connections between confidence and accuracy judgments in SZ and, to a lesser extent in BD, that were not evidenced in HC. However, associations between feedback regarding accuracy with subsequent accuracy judgments and confidence were weaker in SZ and BD. In each of these comparisons, the BD group was intermediate between HC and SZ. In analyses of the WCST, wherein incorporating feedback is crucial for success, higher confidence predicted worse subsequent performance in SZ but not in HC or BD. CONCLUSIONS: While network models are exploratory, the results suggest some potential mechanisms by which challenges in self-assessment may impede performance, perhaps through hyperfocus on self-generated judgments at the expense of incorporation of feedback.

Reading the mind in the eyes and cognitive ability in schizophrenia- and autism spectrum disorders.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia (SZ) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by difficulties in theory of mind (ToM). We examined group differences in performance on a ToM-related test and associations with an estimated IQ. METHODS: Participants [N = 1227, SZ (n = 563), ASD (n = 159), and controls (n = 505), 32.2% female] completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and assessments of cognitive ability. Associations between IQ and group on RMET were investigated with regression analyses. RESULTS: SZ (d = 0.73, p < 0.001) and ASD (d = 0.37, p < 0.001) performed significantly worse on the RMET than controls. SZ performed significantly worse than ASD (d = 0.32, p = 0.002). Adding IQ to the model, SZ (d = 0.60, p < 0.001) and ASD (d = 0.44, p < 0.001) continued to perform significantly worse than controls, but no longer differed from each other (d = 0.13, p = 0.30). Small significant negative correlations between symptom severity and RMET performance were found in SZ (PANSS positive: r = -0.10, negative: r = -0.11, both p < 0.05). A small non-significant negative correlation was found for Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule scores and RMET in ASD (r = -0.08, p = 0.34). CONCLUSIONS: SZ and ASD are characterized by impairments in RMET. IQ contributed significantly to RMET performance and accounted for group differences in RMET between SZ and ASD. This suggests that non-social cognitive ability needs to be included in comparative studies of the two disorders.

Life engagement in people living with schizophrenia: predictors and correlates of patient life engagement in a large sample of people living in the community.

BACKGROUND: Life engagement represents a holistic concept that encompasses outcomes reflecting life-fulfilment, well-being and participation in valued and meaningful activities, which is recently gaining attention and scientific interest. Despite its conceptual importance and its relevance, life engagement represents a largely unexplored domain in schizophrenia. The aims of the present study were to independently assess correlates and predictors of patient life engagement in a large and well-characterized sample of schizophrenia patients. METHODS: To assess the impact of different demographic, clinical, cognitive and functional parameters on life engagement in a large sample of patients with schizophrenia, data from the social cognition psychometric evaluation project were analyzed. RESULTS: Overall schizophrenia and depressive symptom severity, premorbid IQ, neurocognitive performance, social cognition performance both in the emotion processing and theory of mind domains, functional capacity, social skills performance and real-world functioning in different areas all emerged as correlates of patient life engagement. Greater symptom severity and greater impairment in real-world interpersonal relationships, social skills, functional capacity and work outcomes emerged as individual predictors of greater limitations in life engagement. CONCLUSIONS: Life engagement in people living with schizophrenia represents a holistic and complex construct, with several different clinical, cognitive and functional correlates. These features represent potential treatment targets to improve the clinical condition and also facilitate the process of recovery and the overall well-being of people living with schizophrenia.

Mild Cognitive Impairment, But Not HIV Status, is Related to Reduced Awareness of Level of Cognitive Performance Among Older Adults.

OBJECTIVE: Self-assessment of cognitive abilities can be an important predictor of clinical outcomes. This study examined impairments in self-assessments of cognitive performance, assessed with traditional neuropsychological assessments and novel virtual reality tests among older persons with and without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS: One hundred twenty-two participants (82 persons with HIV; 79 MCI+) completed a traditional neuropsychological battery, DETECT virtual reality cognitive battery, and self-reported their general cognitive complaints, depressive symptoms, and perceptions of DETECT performance. Relationships between DETECT performance and self-assessments of performance were examined as were the correlations between general cognitive complaints and performance. These relations were evaluated across HIV and MCI status, considering the associations of depressive symptoms, performance, and self-assessment. RESULTS: We found no effect of HIV status on objective performance or self-assessment of DETECT performance. However, MCI+ participants performed worse on DETECT and traditional cognitive tests, while also showing a directional bias towards overestimation of their performance. MCI- participants showed a bias toward underestimation. Cognitive complaints were reduced compared to objective performance in MCI+ participants. Correlations between self-reported depressive symptoms and cognitive performance or self-assessment of performance were nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS: MCI+ participants underperformed on neuropsychological testing, while overestimating performance. Interestingly, MCI- participants underestimated performance to approximately the same extent as MCI+ participants overestimated. Practical implications include providing support for persons with MCI regarding awareness of limitations and consideration that self-assessments of cognitive performance may be overestimated. Similarly, supporting older persons without MCI to realistically appraise their abilities may have clinical importance.

The Tripartite Model of Depression in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder: A Secondary Analysis.

ABSTRACT: Models of affect, like the tripartite model, suggest that positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) are independent between subjects and negatively correlated within. Correlations may differ in bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and clinical ratings, this secondary analysis evaluated the tripartite model by examining PA and NA. Two hundred eighty-one participants with BD or a psychotic disorder completed 30 days of EMA of PA and NA, and clinical raters assessed depression. PA and NA were more related between subjects and less related within subjects among participants with schizophrenia. In BD, lower momentary PA was positively associated with clinical ratings of depression, although greater momentary NA was not significantly associated with clinical ratings. In schizophrenia, the inverse was found. These results suggest that the tripartite model was not confirmed in people with schizophrenia or BD. However, PA and NA manifested associations in BD that were more congruent with population studies than in schizophrenia. These findings may have implications for clinical interventions targeting depression, PA, and NA in these populations.

Immediate post performance judgements about cognitive performance in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: associations with test performance and subjective overall judgments regarding abilities.

INTRODUCTION: The study explored associations between the accuracy of post assessment judgements of cognitive performance with global self-assessments of psychosocial functioning compared to evaluations generated by observers in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. METHODS: An abbreviated cognitive assessment based on the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery was administered to 122 individuals with schizophrenia and 113 with bipolar disorder. They provided self-estimates of their performance after each subtest. In addition, self-reports on cognition, social cognition, and everyday functioning were collected and compared to observer ratings. RESULTS: Both groups overestimated their cognitive function, but in bipolar disorder, there was 30% shared variance between task performance and self-rated task performance (vs. 5% in schizophrenia). Significant correlations were found between self-reported everyday outcomes and both actual and self-assessed performance. In schizophrenia, immediate judgements were only related to self-rated functioning, not to observer rated functioning. In bipolar disorder, impairments in self-assessment of performance correlated with observer ratings of cognitive ability, which was not observed in schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: While both groups showed correlations between cognitive performance and introspective accuracy, individuals with bipolar disorder showed higher accuracy in assessing their cognitive performance and other outcomes. Notably, impairments in introspective accuracy were associated with observer-rated functioning exclusively in bipolar disorder.

Predictors of depressive symptoms among hospitalized COVID-19 patients with respiratory problems.

COVID-19 patients and survivors quite often experience depressive symptoms, which can increase risk for lower immune system response and poorer recovery. Vulnerability to depressive symptoms may be elevated in those patients who have the most severe COVID-19 course of illness, that is, patients who require supplementary oxygen therapy or even intubation. The current study involved a unique sample of patients who were hospitalized due to COVID-19 and who required respiratory support (N = 34, 10 women) in which we investigated depressive symptoms as well as psychopathological personality traits (PID5) as predictors. The majority of patients (76.5%) presented some degree of depressive symptoms. Although we expected severe levels of depressive symptoms to be most prevalent, more patients showed rather moderate levels. At the same time, Negative Affectivity was most predictive of depressive symptoms. We suggest that medical care for patients with greater emotional sensitivity and vulnerability to stress be supplemented with psychological support in order to address depressive symptoms and foster recovery.

Ecological momentary facial emotion recognition in psychotic disorders.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive tasks delivered during ecological momentary assessment (EMA) may elucidate the short-term dynamics and contextual influences on cognition and judgements of performance. This paper provides initial validation of a smartphone task of facial emotion recognition in serious mental illness. METHODS: A total of 86 participants with psychotic disorders (non-affective and affective psychosis), aged 19-65, were administered in-lab 'gold standard' affect recognition, neurocognition, and symptom assessments. They subsequently completed 10 days of the mobile facial emotion recognition task, assessing both accuracy and self-assessed performance, along with concurrent EMA of psychotic symptoms and mood. Validation focused on task adherence and predictors of adherence, gold standard convergent validity, and symptom and diagnostic group variation. RESULTS: The mean rate of adherence to the task was 79%; no demographic or clinical variables predicted adherence. Convergent validity was observed with in-lab measures of facial emotion recognition, and no practice effects were observed on the mobile facial emotion recognition task. EMA reports of more severe voices, sadness, and paranoia were associated with worse performance, whereas mood more strongly associated with self-assessed performance. CONCLUSION: The mobile facial emotion recognition task was tolerated and demonstrated convergent validity with in-lab measures of the same construct. Social cognitive performance, and biased judgements previously shown to predict function, can be evaluated in real-time in naturalistic environments.

Childhood Trauma Associations With the Interpersonal Psychological Theory of Suicide and Social Cognitive Biases in Psychotic Disorders.

ABSTRACT: Childhood trauma (CT) is associated with suicidal ideation and behaviors (SI/SB) in people with psychosis. The interpersonal psychological theory of suicide (IPTS) suggests that there are four factors that increase suicide risk: thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, acquired capacity for suicide, and hopelessness. The IPTS constructs and social cognitive biases are associated with SI/SB in psychotic disorders. However, the role of CT in IPTS constructs and social cognitive biases has not been examined in psychosis. In an outpatient community sample of persons with psychotic disorders (N = 96) assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the aims of this study were to a) evaluate rates of CT in this sample, b) determine the relationship between CT types and lifetime SI/SB, and c) explore the relationship between CT types, IPTS constructs, and social cognitive biases. All participants reported experiencing CT. Emotional abuse was associated with greater SI severity and higher rates of lifetime suicide attempts, as well as with greater perceived burdensomeness and more severe negative social cognitive biases. Other CT types were minimally associated with SI/SB or IPST constructs; hopelessness was not associated. Overall, negative interpersonal beliefs and social cognitive biases may explain how CT increases suicide risk in psychosis.

The association of momentary sad moods, concurrent productive behaviour, and global functional outcomes: a 30-day ecological momentary assessment study of people with bipolar illness.

BACKGROUND: Previous weekly sampling studies found that persistent sad moods are associated with disability in bipolar illness. However, those data were collected retrospectively. We examined the momentary quality of activities (productive, unproductive, and passive recreation) in an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study and related sadness at each survey to quality of momentary activities and overall everyday functioning. METHODS: Participants with bipolar illness (N = 91) were sampled three times per day for 30 days. Each survey queried participants as to where they were, with whom, what they were doing, and their mood state. Activities were characterised according to predetermined criteria and related to momentary sadness. Observer ratings of everyday functioning were related to daily reports of sadness and activities. RESULTS: Sadness was associated with the quality of activities. Momentary reports of unproductive activities were associated with the most sadness (p < .001), followed by passive recreation, and productive activities. Momentary sadness and momentary unproductive activities correlated with observer ratings of competence in work, everyday activities, and social outcomes (p < .001). Using both predictors led to the best model. CONCLUSIONS: This study on the course of sad moods in people with bipolar illness to EMA found that momentary sadness correlatesdwith the quality of concurrent activities and that both sadness and the quality of everyday activities predicted observer ratings of everyday functioning. Although we cannot determine the causal direction, these findings support the hypothesis that momentary sadness leads to reductions in productive activities and impairments in everyday functioning.

How often do US-based schizophrenia papers published in high-impact psychiatric journals report on race and ethnicity?: A 20-year update of Lewine and Caudle (1999).

BACKGROUND: Racial and ethnic disparities have been clearly documented in schizophrenia studies, but it is unclear how much research attention they receive among US-based studies published in high-impact journals. AIMS: The current paper updates Lewine and Caudle's (1999) and Chakraborty and Steinhauer's (2010) works, which quantified how frequently schizophrenia studies included information on race and ethnicity in their analyses. METHOD: We examined all US-based papers on schizophrenia-spectrum, first-episode psychosis, and clinical high-risk groups, published between 2014 to 2016 in four major psychiatric journals: American Journal of Psychiatry, Journal of the American Medical Association - Psychiatry, Schizophrenia Bulletin, and Schizophrenia Research. RESULTS: Of 474 US-based studies, 62% (n = 295) reported analyses by race or ethnicity as compared to 20% in Lewine and Caudle's (1999) study. The majority of papers (59%) reported sample descriptions, a 42% increase from Lewine and Caudle's (1999) study. Additionally, 47% matched or compared the racial/ethnic composition of primary study groups and 12% adjusted for race (e.g., as a covariate). However, only 9% directly analyzed racial and/or ethnic identity in relation to the primary topic of the paper. CONCLUSIONS: While schizophrenia studies report analyses by race and ethnicity more frequently than 20 years ago, there remains a strong need for systematic, nuanced research on this topic. The authors offer recommendations for how to conceptualize and report upon race and ethnicity in schizophrenia research.

Situational context influences the degree of hostile attributions made by individuals with schizophrenia or autism spectrum disorder.

OBJECTIVES: Previous work has demonstrated that the tendency to make hostile attributions is not a stable trait but varies across different social situations. Therefore, we sought to investigate whether hostile attributions within clinical samples are better understood as a persistent characteristic or one that varies across contexts. METHODS: The current analyses investigated patterns of attributions among people diagnosed with schizophrenia (SCZ, n = 271) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 100) and non-clinical control participants (NCC, n = 233) in an existing data set. RESULTS: Results showed that specific relational features in vignettes portraying different social encounters influence the way people make attributions and that variability across contexts is present in both non-clinical and clinical populations. Like non-clinical participants, participants diagnosed with ASD ascribed the greatest hostility to a scene involving an authority figure. In contrast, SCZ participants reported the greatest hostility in response to a scene involving a friend. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that salient environmental factors should be considered when assessing social cognitive skills and biases. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Hostile attributions should be perceived as situational constructs rather than stable and persistent characteristics. Hostile attributions were most prevalent among persons diagnosed with schizophrenia; however, on average, all participants showed greater hostility for situations involving an authority figure, an acquaintance, or a friend relative to those involving a co-worker or stranger. Psychotherapists and clinicians working with people diagnosed with schizophrenia or autism spectrum disorder could work on identifying situation triggers, which may prompt hostile attributions. Psycho-educational and psychotherapeutic interventions can be altered based on individual triggers of hostile attributions, and attempts can be made to lessen these attributions. Paranoia appears to be linked to hostile attributions regardless of the specific clinical diagnosis and should be considered in the therapeutic process.

Preliminary evidence for the efficacy of single-session transcranial direct current stimulation to the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex for reducing subclinical paranoia in healthy individuals.

OBJECTIVES: Paranoia manifests similarly in subclinical and clinical populations and is related to distress and impairment. Previous work links paranoia to amygdala hyperactivity and reduced activation of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), a region thought to regulate amygdala activity. METHODS: This study aimed to reduce subclinical paranoia in 40 undergraduates by increasing activity of the VLPFC via single-session transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). A double-blind, crossover (active vs. sham stimulation) design was used. RESULTS: Paranoia significantly decreased after active stimulation (dz  = 0.51) but not sham (dz  = 0.19), suggesting that tDCS of VLPFC was associated with mean-level reductions in paranoia. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate preliminary support for the role of single-session active stimulation to the VLPFC for reducing subclinical paranoia in healthy individuals. PRACTITIONER POINTS: In both clinical and subclinical populations, paranoia is related to distress and poorer functional outcomes. Paranoia has been linked to overactivation of the amygdala, a brain region responsible for detecting salience and threat, and reduced activation of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), a region thought to modulate and regulate amygdala activity. In this study, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the VLPFC reduced self-reported paranoia in healthy undergraduate students. tDCS may be a promising intervention for reducing paranoia in subclinical and clinical populations. Effects were relatively small and require replication with larger subclinical samples and with clinical samples.

Lifetime employment in schizophrenia: correlates of developing long term unemployment after being employed before.

BACKGROUND: Challenges in employment are highly prevalent among people with schizophrenia regardless of their employment history. Although supportive employment can be effective, few participants sustain meaningful competitive employment. Our goal was to identify the correlates of developing sustained unemployment. METHODS: We examined employment outcomes by comparing clinical, neurocognitive, and social cognitive features in 234 participants with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders across t competitive employment outcomes: currently employed, participants who had never worked for a year, and those who had been employed but developed long-term unemployment. We examined social cognition and neurocognition, as well as positive and negative schizophrenia symptoms, and premorbid functioning and demographic factors. RESULTS: We found significant differences in age, race, premorbid functioning, cognitive performance, and social cognition between currently and formerly employed patients. When individual tasks were examined, emotion recognition and verbal working memory performance were the domains differentiating the groups. Older African Americans were over-represented in the formerly employed group. CONCLUSIONS: There were minimal differences other than age and race between formerly employed patients and those who had never worked. These data suggest the possibility that deterioration in employment outcomes may also co-occur with declines in other abilities. Opportunities and disparities may also be a contributor to re-entering the work force.

Comprehensive comparison of social cognitive performance in autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) are separate neurodevelopmental disorders that are both characterized by difficulties in social cognition and social functioning. Due to methodological confounds, the degree of similarity in social cognitive impairments across these two disorders is currently unknown. This study therefore conducted a comprehensive comparison of social cognitive ability in ASD and SCZ to aid efforts to develop optimized treatment programs. METHODS: In total, 101 individuals with ASD, 92 individuals with SCZ or schizoaffective disorder, and 101 typically developing (TD) controls, all with measured intelligence in the normal range and a mean age of 25.47 years, completed a large battery of psychometrically validated social cognitive assessments spanning the domains of emotion recognition, social perception, mental state attribution, and attributional style. RESULTS: Both ASD and SCZ performed worse than TD controls, and very few differences were evident between the two clinical groups, with effect sizes (Cohen's d) ranging from 0.01 to 0.34. For those effects that did reach statistical significance, such as greater hostility in the SCZ group, controlling for symptom severity rendered them non-significant, suggesting that clinical distinctions may underlie these social cognitive differences. Additionally, the strength of the relationship between neurocognitive and social cognitive performance was of similar, moderate size for ASD and SCZ. CONCLUSIONS: Findings largely suggest comparable levels of social cognitive impairment in ASD and SCZ, which may support the use of existing social cognitive interventions across disorders. However, future work is needed to determine whether the mechanisms underlying these shared impairments are also similar or if these common behavioral profiles may emerge via different pathways.

Correlates of loneliness among persons with psychotic disorders.

INTRODUCTION: Persons diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) often experience pervasive feelings of loneliness, which are considered a significant barrier to treatment and recovery. AIM: As impaired social cognition may contribute to increased loneliness and less skillful social interactions, this study examines the relationships between loneliness and measures of social cognition and functional outcome from the Social Cognition Psychometric Evaluation (SCOPE) study. METHODS: This study evaluated the relationship between loneliness, social cognitive ability, and social functioning in the context of a large-scale psychometric investigation. We also explored the associations of select demographic characteristics and clinical variables on the endorsement of loneliness in persons diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. RESULTS: Seventy-four stable outpatients with SSDs and 58 healthy controls completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale in addition to the standard SCOPE battery. Our findings support prior research indicating persons diagnosed with a psychotic disorder experience greater levels of loneliness than normative groups. However, the results also indicate that self-reported loneliness is not associated with social cognitive abilities or functional outcome in psychosis. Regression analyses indicate that roughly half the variance in loneliness endorsed by persons with SSDs is accounted for by clinical variables, with loneliness most strongly associated with guilt and self-esteem. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that treatments aiming to reduce perceived social isolation in psychosis should incorporate techniques to bolster selfesteem, reduce guilt, and improve depressive symptoms.

Introspective accuracy for social competence in psychometric schizotypy.

Introduction: Deficits in social competence have been identified in schizotypy; however, most studies rely on self-reports of these skills. Deficits in introspective accuracy (IA) have been identified within schizophrenia, and recent work suggests IA is impaired in schizotypy as well. Thus, the perception of poorer social competence among individuals high in schizotypy may be due to inaccurate self-assessments rather than actual skill deficits.Method: This study examined the relationship between schizotypy, perceived social competence, and observed social competence in 137 undergraduate students.Results: Differences in self-reported social competence were found such that individuals high in schizotypy reported greater deficits than individuals low in schizotypy. However, the groups performed comparably on an objective assessment of social competence. Within groups, individuals high in schizotypy underestimated their social competence, whereas controls overestimated their social competence. Thus, both groups demonstrated impairments in IA.Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that individuals high in schizotypal traits perceive that they have poor social competence despite displaying skills that are on par with their peers. Such perceptions may lead to avoidance of social interactions or employment opportunities and could contribute to deficits in social functioning.

Implicit and explicit processing of bodily emotions in schizophrenia.

INTRODUCTION: Disturbed emotion processing is well documented in schizophrenia, but the majority of studies evaluate processing of emotion only from facial expressions. Social cues are also communicated via body posture, and they are similarly relevant for successful social interactions. The aim of the current study was to thoroughly examine body perception abilities in individuals with schizophrenia. METHODS: Fifty-nine patients with schizophrenia and 37 healthy controls completed two tasks of body processing. The first, which was based on the Affect Misattribution Procedure, evaluated implicit processing of bodily emotions, and the second utilised a traditional emotion identification paradigm to assess explicit emotion recognition. RESULTS: Results revealed aberrant implicit processing, but more normative explicit processing, in individuals with schizophrenia. Moderate associations were found between processing of bodies and symptoms of paranoia. Performance on the tasks was not related to cognitive functioning but was associated with clinician-rated social functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, these results provide information about disturbed processing of bodily emotions in schizophrenia and suggest that these disturbances are associated with the severity of positive symptoms and predict difficulties in everyday social activities and interpersonal relationships.