Cognition, functional outcome, clinical symptoms and quality of life in early psychosis: An exploratory study
Poster B38, Friday, October 21, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm, Le Baron
Olina Vidarsdottir1,2, Brynja Magnusdottir1,3, David Roberts4, Elizabeth Twamley5, Berglind Gudmundsdottir1,2, Engilbert Sigurdsson1,2; 1The University of Iceland, 2Landspitali University Hospital, 3Reykjavik University, 4The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 5University of California, San Diego and VA San Diego Healthcare System
Social cognition is markedly impaired in schizophrenia and has been identified as a mediator between neurocognition and functional outcome, suggesting that social cognitive training should be added to cognitive remediation to enhance outcome and generalization to everyday life. We investigated social cognition and its relationship to neurocognition, functional outcome, clinical symptoms and quality of life in early psychosis, to guide the development of an integrated cognitive remediation and social cognition and interaction training (SCIT) in this population. Fifty-eight participants with primary psychotic disorders at a First Episode Service in Iceland (mean age: 24; 83% males) completed assessments of social cognitive function (theory of mind and emotion perception), social bias (attributional style with confidence judgments), neurocognition (working memory, verbal memory, logic reasoning, processing speed, and executive functioning), clinical symptoms, functional outcome, and quality of life. We found that two measures of social bias correlated with positive symptoms (r= .37-.46, p< 0.05). Correlations were found between social cognitive function and negative symptoms (r = -.33 - -.36, p< 0.05), as well as with multiple neurocognitive domains. Quality of life correlated with one measure of social bias (r= -.40, p= 0.07), but with none of the neurocognitive measures. Stronger correlations were found between functional outcomes and social cognition than for neurocognition. The results contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying social cognition including social bias and social cognitive deficit. The relevance of adding SCIT to cognitive remediation, when improved social functioning and quality of life is the main goal, is supported.
Topic Area: Neurocognition