Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T04:47:30.909Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The predictive value of measures of social cognition for community functioning in schizophrenia: Implications for neuropsychological assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2009

G.H.M. PIJNENBORG*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychotic Disorders, GGZ Drenthe, Assen, The Netherlands Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands School for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences (BCN), University Medical Centre, Groningen, The Netherlands
F.K. WITHAAR
Affiliation:
Department of Psychotic Disorders, GGZ Drenthe, Assen, The Netherlands Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
J.J. EVANS
Affiliation:
Section of Psychological Medicine, University of Glasgow, Academic Centre, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Glasgow, United Kingdom
R.J. VAN DEN BOSCH
Affiliation:
School for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences (BCN), University Medical Centre, Groningen, The Netherlands Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
M.E. TIMMERMAN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
W.H. BROUWER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands Section of Psychological Medicine, University of Glasgow, Academic Centre, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Glasgow, United Kingdom Department of Neurology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Marieke Pijnenborg, Department of Psychotic Disorders, GGZ Drenthe, Dennenweg 9, 9404 LA Assen, The Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the unique contribution of social cognition to the prediction of community functioning and to explore the relevance of social cognition for clinical practice. Forty-six schizophrenia patients and 53 healthy controls were assessed with tests of social cognition [emotion perception and Theory of Mind (ToM)], general cognition, and, within the patient sample, psychiatric symptoms. Community functioning was rated by nurses or family members. Social cognition was a better predictor of community functioning than general cognition or psychiatric symptoms. When the contributions of emotion perception and ToM were examined separately, only ToM contributed significantly to the prediction of community functioning. Independent living skills were poor in patients with impaired social cognition. In controls, social cognition was not related to community functioning. ToM was the best predictor of community functioning in schizophrenia. However, to fully understand a patient’s strengths and weaknesses, assessment of social cognition should always be combined with assessment of general cognition and psychiatric symptoms. (JINS, 2009, 15, 239–247).

Type
Research Articles
Copyright
Copyright © INS 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Birchwood, M., Smith, J., Cochrane, R., Wetton, S., & Copestake, S. (1990). The Social Functioning Scale: The development and validation of a new scale of social adjustment for use in family intervention programmes with schizophrenic patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 853859.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brekke, J.S., Kay, D.D., Kee, K.S., & Green, M.F. (2005). Biosocial pathways to functional outcome in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 80, 213225.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brekke, J.S., Hoe, M., Long, J., & Green, M.F. (2007). How neurocognition and social cognition influence functional change during community-based psychosocial rehabilitation for individuals with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 33(5), 12471256.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brothers, L. (1990). The social brain: A project for integrating primate behaviour and neurophysiology in a new domain. Concepts in Neuroscience, 1, 28.Google Scholar
Brüne, M., Abdel-Hamid, M., Lehmkamper, C., & Sonttag, C. (2007). Mental state attribution, neurocognitive functioning, and psychopathology: What predicts poor social competence in schizophrenia best? Schizophrenia Research, 92, 151159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brüne, M. (2005b). Emotion recognition, “theory of mind”, and social behavior in schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research B, 133, 135147.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brüne, M. (2005a). “Theory of mind” in schizophrenia: A review of the literature. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 31, 2142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioural sciences (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Couture, S.M., Penn, D.L., & Roberts, D.L. (2006). The functional significance of social cognition in schizophrenia: A review. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 32(Suppl), S44S63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dickerson, F.B., Ringel, N.B., & Parente, F. (1998). Subjective quality of life in out-patients with schizophrenia: Clinical and utilization correlates. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia, 98(2), 124127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edwards, J., Jackson, H.J., & Pattison, P.E. (2002). Emotion recognition via facial expression and affective prosody in schizophrenia. Clinical Psychology Review, 22(6), 789832.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ekman, P. & Friesen, W.V. (1976). Pictures of facial affect series. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.Google Scholar
Green, M.F. (1996). What are the functional consequences of neurocognitive deficits in schizophrenia? American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 321330.Google ScholarPubMed
Holthausen, E.A.E. (2003). Does cognition predict outcome and course of illness in schizophrenia? Schizophrenia Research, 53, 217221.Google Scholar
Kay, S.R., Fishbein, A., & Opler, L.A. (1987). The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 13, 261276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kee, K.S., Green, M.F., Mintz, J., & Brekke, J.S. (2003). Is emotion processing a predictor of outcome in schizophrenia? Schizophrenia Bulletin, 29, 487497.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klin, A. (2000). Attributing social meaning to ambiguous visual stimuli in higher functioning autism and Asperger syndrome: The social attribution task. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41(7), 831846.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kohler, C.G., Turner, T.H., Bilker, W.B., Brensinger, C.M., Siegel, S.J., Kanses, S.J., Gur, R.E., & Gur, R.C. (2003). Facial emotion perception in schizophrenia: Intensity effects and error pattern. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(10), 17681774.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindenmayer, J.P., Bernstein-Hyman, R., & Grochowski, B.A. (1994). Five factor model of schizophrenia. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 182(11), 631634.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luteijn, F. & Barelds, D. (2004). Groninger Intelligentie Test. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Harcourt Assessment BV.Google Scholar
Mayer, J.D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D.R. (2002). Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) user’s manual. Toronto, ON: MHS Publishers.Google Scholar
Milev, P., Ho, B., Arndt, S., & Andreassen, N.C. (2005). Predictive value of neurocognition and negative symptoms on functional outcome in schizophrenia: A longitudinal first episode study with 7 years follow-up. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162, 495506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mueser, K.T., Doonan, R., Penn, D.L., Blanchard, J.J., Bellack, A.S., Nishith, P., & Deleon, J. (1996). Emotion recognition and social competence in chronic schizophrenia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105, 271275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nuechterlein, K.H., Barch, D.M., Gold, J.M., Goldberg, T.E., Green, M.F., & Heaton, R.K. (2004). Identification of separable cognitive factors in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 72(1), 2939.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nuechterlein, K.H., Green, M.F., Kern, R.S., Baade, L.E., Barch, D.M., Cohen, J.D., Essock, S., Fenton, W.S., Frese, F.J. III, Gold, J.M., Goldberg, T., Heaton, R.K., Keefe, R.S.E., Kraemer, H., Mesholam-Gately, R., Seidman, L.J., Stover, E., Weinberger, D.R., Young, A.S., Zalcman, S.M.D., & Marder, S.R. (2008). The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, Part1: Test selection, reliability, and validity. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165(2), 203213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nuechterlein, K.H., Robbins, T.W., & Einat, H. (2005). Distinguishing separable domains of cognition in human and animal studies: What separations are optimal for targeting interventions? A summary of recommendations from break out group 2 at the measurement and treatment research to improve cognition in schizophrenia new approaches conference. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 31(4), 870874.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penn, D.L., Spaulding, W., Reed, D., & Sullivan, M. (1996). The relationship of social cognition to ward behavior in chronic schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 20, 327335.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pijnenborg, G.H.M., Withaar, F.K., van den Bosch, R.J., & Brouwer, W.H. (2007). Impaired perception of negative emotional prosody. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 52(2), 236240.Google Scholar
Pinkham, A.E. & Penn, D.L. (2006). Neurocognitive and social cognitive predictors of interpersonal skill in schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research, 143(2–3), 167178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pollice, R., Roncone, R., Falloon, I.H.R., Mazza, M., de Risio, A., & Necozione, S. (2002). Is theory of mind in schizophrenia more strongly associated with clinical and social functioning than with neurocognitive deficits. Psychopathology, 35, 280288.Google Scholar
Poole, J.H., Tobias, F.C., & Vinogradov, S. (2000). The functional significance of affect recognition errors in schizophrenia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 6, 649658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Premack, D. & Woodruff, G. (1978). Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behavioral Brain Science, 4, 515526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reitan, R.M. (1979). Manual of administration of neuropsychological test batteries for adults and children. Tucson, AZ: Neuropsychological Laboratory.Google Scholar
Saan, R.J. & Deelman, B.G. (1986). De 15-WoordenTests A (Manual). Groningen, The Netherlands: University of Groningen, Department of Neuropsychology (Internal Publication).Google Scholar
Sergi, M.J., Green, M.F., Widmark, C., Reist, C., Erhart, S., Braff, D.L., Kee, K.S., Marder, S.R., & Mintz, J. (2007). Social cognition and neurocognition: Effects of risperidone, olanzapine, and haloperidol. American Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 15851592.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stone, V.E., Baron-Cohen, S., Calder, A.W., & Keane, J. (1998). Impairments in social cognition following orbitofrontal or amygdala damage. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 24, 1176.Google Scholar
van Beilen, M. (2004). Measuring executive functioning in schizophrenia (Thesis dissertation). Groningen, The Netherlands: University of Groningen.Google Scholar
Verhage, F. (1983). Het coderen van het opleidingsniveau voor researchdoeleinden (English translation: Educational classification system for research purposes: revised version). Groningen, The Netherlands: University Medical Center, State University Groningen (Internal Publication).Google Scholar
Withaar, F.K. & Arends, J. (2002). Cognitive rehabilitation in schizophrenia. In Brouwer, W.H., Van Zomeren, E., Berg, I., Bouma, A., & Haan, E. (Eds.), Cognitive rehabilitation: A clinical approach, 125143. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Boom.Google Scholar
Young, A.W., Perrett, D., Calder, A., Sprengelmeyer, R., & Ekman, P. (2002). The facial expressions of emotion: Stimuli and test, manual. Bury St., Edmunds, UK: Thames Valley Test Company.Google Scholar