title: Self-continuity across time in schizophrenia: An exploration of phenomenological and narrative continuity in the past and future.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Disorders of the self, such as a reduced sense of personal continuity in time, are a core symptom of schizophrenia, but one that is still poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated two complementary aspects of self-continuity, namely phenomenological and narrative continuity, in 27 patients with schizophrenia, and compared them with 27 control participants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were asked to identify important past events and to narrate a story from their life that included these events. They were also asked to imagine important events that might happen in their personal future and to build a narrative of their future life. The vividness of these important life events and the proportion of self-event connections in the narratives were used as a measure of phenomenological and narrative continuity, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our study showed patients with schizophrenia experienced less vivid representations of personally significant events (p = .02) for both temporal directions (past and future) (p < .001). In addition, their ability to make explicit connections between personal events and self-attributes in life narratives was also impaired (p = .03), but only in the case of past narratives (p < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results shed new light on the cognitive mechanisms underlying self-disorders in schizophrenia. The clinical and therapeutic implications of these findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U-1114, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Clinique Psychiatrique, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; FMTS: Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Allé
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology - Cognition and Behavior, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium; Cyclotron Research Centre, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: d'Argembeau
authors.affiliation: Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: INSERM U-1114, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Clinique Psychiatrique, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; FMTS: Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Potheegadoo
authors.affiliation: INSERM U-1114, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Clinique Psychiatrique, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; FMTS: Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Strasbourg Cedex, France.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coutelle
authors.affiliation: INSERM U-1114, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Clinique Psychiatrique, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; FMTS: Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: J-M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Danion
authors.affiliation: INSERM U-1114, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Clinique Psychiatrique, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; FMTS: Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France. Electronic address: fabrice.berna@chru-strasbourg.fr.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berna
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D033262:Narration; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D013997:Time Factors