title: Self-disorders in individuals with attenuated psychotic symptoms: Contribution of a dysfunction of autobiographical memory.
abstract: Patients with schizophrenia and people with subclinical psychotic symptoms have difficulties getting a clear and stable representation of their self. The cognitive mechanisms involved in this reduced clarity of self-concept remain poorly understood. The present study examined whether an altered way of thinking or reasoning about one's past may account for the reduced clarity of self-concept in individuals with attenuated psychotic symptoms (APS). An online study comprising 667 participants examined the capacity to give a meaning to past events and to scrutinize autobiographical memory to better understand him/herself. Our results showed that in this sample, individuals with APS (n=49) have a lower clarity of self-concept and a higher tendency to scrutinize autobiographical memory than controls subjects (n=147). A mediation analysis performed on the full sample revealed that the relation between APS and clarity of self-concept was mediated by a tendency to scrutinize autobiographical memory. Our results suggest that the weakness of self-concept, which increases with the intensity of psychotic symptoms, may be related to an altered function of autobiographical memory, so that examining past events may fail to sustain a stable and clear representation of the self when psychotic symptoms increase.
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Martinistr. 52, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: fabrice.berna@chru-strasbourg.fr.
authors.forename: Fabrice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berna
authors.affiliation: Occupational and Consumer Psychology, Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Göritz
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Martinistr. 52, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.affiliation: UMR 5229 (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Lyon, France; Centre Référent Lyonnais en Réhabilitation et en Remédiation Cognitive, Service Universitaire de Réhabilitation, Hôpital du Vinatier, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Brice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, UMR CNRS 7291 and Aix-Marseille Université, Fédération 3C, Marseille, France; Unité de Neurophysiologie, Psychophysiologie et Neurophénoménologie, UF 4817 Marseille, France; Département Universitaire de Psychiatrie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte Marguerite, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cermolacce
authors.affiliation: Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: Mélissa C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Allé
authors.affiliation: INSERM U-1114, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Université de Strasbourg, Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Marie
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Danion
authors.affiliation: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Reims, Département de Psychiatrie, Reims, France; UFR de Psychologie, Université de Toulouse 2 Le Mirail, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Christine V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Cuervo-Lombard
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Martinistr. 52, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moritz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D008875:Middle Aged; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D013850:Thinking
keywords: Autobiographical memory; Autobiographical reasoning; Psychosis; Schizophrenia; Self