The following is a summary of “Negative symptoms and social cognition as mediators of the relationship between neurocognition and functional outcome in schizophrenia,” published in the January 2024 issue of Psychiatry by Giordano et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to investigate how psychopathology, including negative symptoms (motivational and expressive deficits), processing speed as an index of neurocognition, and emotion recognition, contribute to poor functional outcomes in schizophrenia.
They utilized the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for positive symptoms and disorganization assessment, alongside the Brief Negative Symptom Scale for negative symptom evaluation. Processing speed was measured using the Symbol Coding and Trail Making Tests A and B, while emotion recognition was assessed using the Facial Emotion Identification Test. The Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP) gauged the functional outcome. Regression analyses were conducted to pinpoint predictors of functional outcomes. Mediation analyses were employed to explore whether social cognition and negative symptom domains entirely or partially mediated the influence of processing speed on functional outcomes.
The results showed that among the 150 subjects, expressive deficit emerged as a predictor of global functioning. Together with a motivational deficit, it fully mediated the effects of neurocognition on global functioning. Motivational deficit independently predicted personal and social functioning and entirely mediated the impact of neurocognitive impairment on this outcome. Motivational deficit and neurocognitive impairment were predictive of socially valuable activities. The emotion recognition domain of social cognition partially mediated the influence of neurocognitive deficits on this outcome.
Investigators concluded that both negative symptoms and social cognition mediate neurocognitive deficits’ impact on functioning, highlighting the need for targeted interventions.
Source: frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1333711/full