title: Predictors of subjective well-being in patients with paranoid symptoms: is insight necessarily advantageous?
abstract: In schizophrenia, poor insight has been associated with negative outcome. In fact, some studies have found insight to be associated with greater treatment adherence and lower levels of symptomatology, as well as better psychosocial functioning. However, others have found that insight into illness is associated with an increase in depression, low self-esteem, and possibly higher risk of suicide. We investigated the relationship between insight and well-being in a sample of 40 people presenting paranoid symptoms and diagnosed with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder. Independent-samples t-tests revealed that compared to a paranoid group with high insight, paranoid participants with low insight had more self-acceptance, higher sense of autonomy and personal growth, and greater orientation towards gratification. Moderation analyses showed that when experiential avoidance was high, insight into paranoia had a detrimental effect on self-acceptance. Overall, our results support the need to explore which psychological variables moderate insight in patients with persecutory beliefs. We discuss the implications of these results for the research of paranoia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Psychology, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain. mcvalien@pdi.ucm.es
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Valiente
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Provencio
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Espinosa
authors.forename: Covadonga
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chaves
authors.forename: Filiberto
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fuentenebro
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010259:Paranoid Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires