title: Longitudinal stability of social cognition in schizophrenia: A 5-year follow-up of social perception and emotion processing.
abstract: Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit marked and disproportional impairment in social cognition, which is associated with their level of community functioning. However, it is unclear whether social cognitive impairment is stable over time, or if impairment worsens as a function of illness chronicity. Moreover, little is known about the longitudinal associations between social cognition and community functioning.
  
  
  
  Forty-one outpatients with schizophrenia completed tests of emotion processing (Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, MSCEIT) and social perception (Relationships Across Domains, RAD) at baseline and approximately five years later. Stability of performance was assessed using paired t-tests and correlations. Longitudinal associations between social cognition and community functioning (Role Functioning Scale, RFS) were assessed using cross-lagged panel correlation analysis.
  
  
  
  Performance on the two social cognition tasks were stable over follow-up. There were no significant mean differences between assessment points [p's≥0.20, Cohen'sd's≤|0.20|], and baseline performance was highly correlated with performance at follow-up [ρ's≥0.70, ICC≥0.83, p's<0.001]. The contemporaneous association between social cognition and community functioning was moderately large at follow-up [ρ=0.49, p=0.002]. However, baseline social cognition did not show a significant longitudinal influence on follow-up community functioning [z=0.31, p=0.76].
  
  
  
  These data support trait-like stability of selected areas of social cognition in schizophrenia. Cross-lagged correlations did not reveal a significant unidirectional influence of baseline social cognition on community functioning five years later. However, consistent with the larger literature, a moderately large cross-sectional association between social cognition and community functioning was observed. Based on stability and cross-sectional associations, these results suggest that social cognition might have short-term implications for functional outcome rather than long-term consequences.
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States; UCLA, Department of Psychology, United States; VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System, United States. Electronic address: amccleery@mednet.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McCleery
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States; VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System, United States.
authors.forename: Junghee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Department of Anthropology, United States.
authors.forename: Alan P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Fiske
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States.
authors.forename: Livon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ghermezi
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States.
authors.forename: Jacqueline N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Hayata
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States.
authors.forename: Gerhard S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Hellemann
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States; VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System, United States.
authors.forename: William P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Horan
authors.affiliation: California State University Channel Islands, Department of Psychology, United States.
authors.forename: Kimmy S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kee
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States; VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System, United States.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Kern
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Department of Psychology, United States.
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Knowlton
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States.
authors.forename: Kenneth L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Subotnik
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States; VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System, United States; UCLA, Department of Biostatistics, United States.
authors.forename: Catherine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Sugar
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States; UCLA, Department of Psychology, United States.
authors.forename: Keith H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Nuechterlein
authors.affiliation: UCLA, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States; VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System, United States.
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018450:Disease Progression; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012938:Social Perception
keywords: Cross-lagged panel analyses; Illness duration; MSCEIT; Psychosis; RAD; Social cognition