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BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2014

Open Access 01-12-2014 | Research article

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

Authors: Bess YH Lam, Adrian Raine, Tatia MC Lee

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2014

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Abstract

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.
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Metadata
Title
The relationship between neurocognition and symptomatology in people with schizophrenia: social cognition as the mediator
Authors
Bess YH Lam
Adrian Raine
Tatia MC Lee
Publication date
01-12-2014
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2014
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-14-138

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