title: The relationship between cognitive insight, clinical insight, and depression in patients with schizophrenia.
abstract: Despite comorbid depression being relatively common even in subjects with schizophrenia, to the best of our knowledge, there is, to date, no report in the literature specifically and detailed examining the cognitive and clinical insight in subjects with schizophrenia and a comorbid depressive syndrome. Hence, in this study, we sought to compare the cognitive and clinical insight in our subjects with schizophrenia with and without a comorbid depressive syndrome. We found that participants in the depressive group scored significantly higher on self-reflectiveness and the reflectiveness-certainty (R-C) index scores than those in the nondepressive group. There was no significant difference among groups on the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms, and clinical insight scores assessed by the Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder. In addition, self-reflectiveness scores significantly correlated with depression, observed depression, hopelessness, and suicidality subscores of the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia. A better understanding of the cognitive component of insight in schizophrenia with comorbid depression may contribute to develop more efficient cognitive strategies, thus improving patient outcome. However, clinicians should be aware of the possibility of exacerbating a sense of hopelessness and suicide risk during the interventions that improve cognitive insight.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Ataturk Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. drokanekinci@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Okan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ekinci
authors.forename: Görkem Karakas
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Ugurlu
authors.forename: Yakup
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Albayrak
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arslan
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caykoylu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology