title: Capacities for theory of mind, metacognition, and neurocognitive function are independently related to emotional recognition in schizophrenia.
abstract: While many with schizophrenia spectrum disorders experience difficulties understanding the feelings of others, little is known about the psychological antecedents of these deficits. To explore these issues we examined whether deficits in mental state decoding, mental state reasoning and metacognitive capacity predict performance on an emotion recognition task. Participants were 115 adults with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder and 58 adults with substance use disorders but no history of a diagnosis of psychosis who completed the Eyes and Hinting Test. Metacognitive capacity was assessed using the Metacognitive Assessment Scale Abbreviated and emotion recognition was assessed using the Bell Lysaker Emotion Recognition Test. Results revealed that the schizophrenia patients performed more poorly than controls on tests of emotion recognition, mental state decoding, mental state reasoning and metacognition. Lesser capacities for mental state decoding, mental state reasoning and metacognition were all uniquely related emotion recognition within the schizophrenia group even after controlling for neurocognition and symptoms in a stepwise multiple regression. Results suggest that deficits in emotion recognition in schizophrenia may partly result from a combination of impairments in the ability to judge the cognitive and affective states of others and difficulties forming complex representations of self and others.
authors.affiliation: Roudebush VA Medical Center (116H), 1481 West 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Paul H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Lysaker
authors.affiliation: Roudebush VA Medical Center (116H), 1481 West 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Bethany L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Leonhardt
authors.affiliation: Research Department of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry and Psychiatric Preventive Medicine, LWL University Hospital, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brüne
authors.affiliation: Roudebush VA Medical Center (116H), 1481 West 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Kelly D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Buck
authors.affiliation: Indiana State University, Department of Psychology, Terre Haute, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Larue D. Carter Memorial Hospital, IU Psychotic Disorders Research Program, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Jenifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vohs
authors.affiliation: Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Larue D. Carter Memorial Hospital, IU Psychotic Disorders Research Program, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Francis
authors.affiliation: Midtown Community Mental Health Center/Eskenazi Health, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Jay A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hamm
authors.affiliation: Centro di Terapia Metacognitiva Interpersonale, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giampaolo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Salvatore
authors.affiliation: Roudebush VA Medical Center (116H), 1481 West 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Jamie M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ringer
authors.affiliation: Centro di Terapia Metacognitiva Interpersonale, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dimaggio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition; D032882:Comprehension; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012938:Social Perception; D056345:Theory of Mind; D013850:Thinking
keywords: Affect recognition; Metacognition; Negative symptoms; Neurocognition; Schizophrenia; Social cognition; Theory of mind