A - 131 Social Adjustment and Functioning in Serious Mental Illness Is Predicted by Social Cognition.

Abstract

Deficits in social cognition (SC) and social functioning (SF) are prominent in schizophrenia. This study used standardized assessments to examine SC and SF to determine if similar deficits are present in persons diagnosed with bipolar disorders. The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT) was used to assess emotion identification and social inference, and the Social Functioning Scale (SFS) to assess SF domains (Social Engagement, Interpersonal Communication, Independent Performance, Independent Competence, Recreation, Prosocial, and Employment). The TASIT and SFS were administered to individuals with schizophrenia (SZ; N = 22), bipolar disorder with psychotic features (BP+; N = 20) or without psychotic features (BP-; N = 21), and healthy controls (HC; N = 22). Mixed model ANOVA examined group differences and multiple regression determined if SC predicted SF. The SZ group showed significantly worse SF compared to all other groups. There was no significant difference between the BP+ and BP-, and both BP groups performed worse than HCs. For multiple regression, the three clinical groups (SZ, BP+, BP-) were combined to yield an overall SMI group (N = 63). TASIT emotion identification and social inference predicted performance on SFS domains of Independent Performance, Independent Competence, Recreation, Prosocial, and SFS total score. Emotion identification was the strongest predictor of the Independent Performance domain in comparison to social inference. Performance on the TASIT predicted performance across several domains of SF in SMI. Differences were present based on the specific SC abilities and SF domains, suggesting SC abilities are more strongly associated with some functional domains but not others, which may help guide clinical decision making.