Disorganized Symptoms Research Articles

Familial aggregation of schizotypy in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and its relation to clinical and neurodevelopmental characteristics

IntroductionThis study explored schizotypy as a familial liability marker for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD) by examining: 1) the aggregation of schizotypy in families with a SSD patient, 2) whether familial resemblance of schizotypy is associated with ridge dissociations (RD), another SSD liability marker, 3) whether schizotypy aggregation patterns influence patients' psychopathology. MethodsThe sample comprised 30 SSD patients and 82 healthy first-degree relatives. Schizotypy was assessed using the Structured Interview for Schizotypy-Revised (SIS-R). Patients' psychopathology was evaluated using the Comprehensive Assessment of Symptoms and History (CASH). RD were identified as anomalies of the dermal ridge junction. Familiality of SIS-R was investigated using a linear mixed model (LMM) and its strength was assessed using an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Another LMM using the absolute differences in SIS-R scores between all possible pairs of relatives as the dependent variable was fitted to obtain an intra-family resemblance score, a family-specific indicator of resemblance of SIS-R scores within each family. Results1) Schizotypy was familial (ICC = 0.30); families with high resemblance displayed low schizotypy, whereas families with low resemblance included at least one healthy relative with high schizotypy (p < 0.001). 2) Relatives with RD had higher SIS-R scores (p = 0.018) and belonged to families with discordant schizotypy scores among members (p < 0.001). 3) Patients from high schizotypy families showed more severe disorganized symptoms at the psychotic episode (p = 0.035) and 1 year later (p = 0.011). ConclusionsSchizotypy is a marker of vulnerability for SSD that runs within a subgroup of families. The schizotypy familial aggregation pattern correlates with RD in relatives and with patients' psychopathology.

The Cognitive Assessment Interview: A comparative study in first episode and chronic patients with psychosis

The Cognitive Assessment Interview (CAI) is an interview-based instrument to assess cognition considering the impact of cognitive impairment on daily activities. We aimed to explore the associations of the Spanish version of the CAI (CAI-Sp) with a neuropsychological battery and a measure of psychosocial functioning in psychosis. The sample consisted of fifty-six first episode psychosis (FEP) patients and 66 non-FEP patients, who were assessed with a neuropsychological battery, the CAI-Sp and the Short Disability Schedule (DAS-S). Patients also underwent clinical assessment. Additionally, 37 controls were assessed with the neuropsychological battery and CAI-Sp, for normalization purposes. The results showed that CAI-Sp scores were overall correlated with the neuropsychological battery in non-FEP patients. In FEP patients, we found fewer significant correlations. Most associations were maintained after controlling for clinical symptoms. CAI-Sp rater scores contributed to the variance in the DAS-S scores in both groups, as did negative and disorganized symptoms. The CAI-Sp may be a good instrument to assess cognition in non-FEP patients. In FEP patients, it was less effective in capturing cognitive impairments and their functional consequences, probably because cognitive deficits have yet to become evident, due to the recency of illness onset, and no functional disturbances were observed due to these cognitive impairments.

The beneficial influence of inattention on visual interference in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is associated with poor spatial attention. However, although this deficit undermines the perception of target information, it may be helpful for ignoring irrelevant inputs. The present study examined whether event-related brain potential (ERP) indices of visual spatial attention predicted the magnitude of the brain response to interference in schizophrenia. ERPs were recorded in 16 schizophrenia patients and 20 healthy control participants who had to indicate whether the target E was global or local in compound letter stimuli. The nontarget could be either highly similar to the target (i.e., a global E composed of local Ss and vice versa) and thus produce more interference, or it could be dissimilar (i.e., a global E composed of local Hs and vice versa) and generate less interference. Both groups' responses were slowed by interference. Voltage amplitudes of the P1, and of ERP interference effects from 300-500 ms after stimulus onset, were significantly smaller in schizophrenia patients than in healthy participants when the target was global. In patients, larger P1 amplitudes were correlated with larger interference effects and with more severe symptoms of attentional deficits and conceptual disorganization. Schizophrenia participants thus exhibited abnormal ERPs to interference despite normal behavioral performance. Schizophrenia patients likely pay less attention to stimuli in general; however, the impact of this impairment on target detection is compensated by relatively greater inattention to irrelevant components of the stimuli, and this explains why they are not more influenced by interference than healthy participants at the behavioral level. (PsycINFO Database Record

Reliability of a patient-reported outcome measure in schizophrenia: Results from back-to-back self-ratings.

This study aimed to assess patient's capacity to perform a patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure (i.e., a self-rating scale) and examine its relationship with clinical characteristics including cognition. Fifty patients with schizophrenia were asked to rate the Subjective Well-being under Neuroleptics scale - Short form (SWNS) twice; the second rating was started immediately after they completed the first to minimize the gap between ratings. At the same time, the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) and Brief Neurocognitive Assessment (BNA) were administered. The correlations between the two ratings for the SWNS total and each item scores were high (rs=0.94 and rs=0.60-0.84, respectively); however, for 16 (80%) of 20 items, 5 or more patients (i.e., ≥10%) demonstrated a>1 point score difference. There was no significant correlation between the SWNS total score difference and any clinical characteristics including age, education duration, illness duration, antipsychotic dose, psychopathology, and cognition. In contrast, the number of items with a>1 point score difference was significantly correlated with disorganized symptoms and overall severity (rs=0.29 for both), as well as working memory and global cognition (rs=-0.41 and rs=-0.40, respectively). These findings suggest that PROs should be interpreted with caution in patients with schizophrenia with prominent disorganization and cognitive impairment.

Goal-directed behaviors in patients with schizophrenia: Concept relevance and updated model.

Goal-directed behaviors are formulated to pursue a given objective by constructing a plan and selecting actions that lead to the intended goal, either immediately or over an extended period. This concept is important to the study of human behavior because of its involvement in the majority of complex or novel situations that an individual may encounter, regardless of the cognitive, affective, or social abilities required. In this paper, we aim to demonstrate the relevance of goal-directed behaviors to our understanding of the cognitive deficits and other symptoms associated with schizophrenia. A systematic analysis of this relation may allow us to develop integrative hypotheses regarding positive, negative, and disorganized symptoms of schizophrenia rather than consider them to be distinct issues. In this article, we review previous studies of goal-directed actions in patients with schizophrenia in order to clarify the relevant concepts and provide a theoretical basis for the integration of existing results. Based on available theoretical models and data, we propose an updated model to facilitate further investigation of schizophrenia-related impairments in goal-directed behaviors.

Seeing more clearly through psychosis: Depth inversion illusions are normal in bipolar disorder but reduced in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia patients with more positive symptoms are less susceptible to depth inversion illusions (DIIs) in which concave objects appear as convex. It remains unclear, however, the extent to which this perceptual advantage uniquely characterizes the schizophrenia phenotype. To address the foregoing, we compared 30 bipolar disorder patients to a previously published sample of healthy controls (N=25) and schizophrenia patients (N=30). The task in all cases was to judge the apparent convexity of physically concave faces and scenes. Half of the concave objects were painted with realistic texture to enhance the convexity illusion and the remaining objects were untextured to reduce the illusion. Subjects viewed objects stereoscopically or via monocular motion parallax depth cues. For each group, DIIs were stronger with texture than without, and weaker with stereoscopic information than without, indicating a uniformly normal response to stimulus alterations across groups. Bipolar patients experienced DIIs more frequently than schizophrenia patients but as commonly as controls, irrespective of the face/scene category, texture, or viewing condition (motion/stereo). More severe positive and disorganized symptoms predicted reduced DIIs for schizophrenia patients and across all patients. These results suggest that people with schizophrenia, but not bipolar disorder, more accurately perceive object depth structure. Psychotic symptoms—or their accompanying neural dysfunction—may primarily drive the effect presumably through eroding the visual system's generalized tendency to construe unusual or ambiguous surfaces as convex. Because such symptoms are by definition more common in schizophrenia, DIIs are at once state-sensitive and diagnostically specific, offering a potential biomarker for the presence of acute psychosis.

НЕЙРОЛЕПТИКИ В ЛЕЧЕНИИ ШИЗОФРЕНИИ (ОБЗОР ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ)

Aim. To analyze the administration of antipsychotics as main pharmaceuticals in treatment of schizophrenia as chronic mental disease involving several positive, negative, cognitive, and affective symptoms resulting in disorganization of mental activity and mental disadaptation in patients. Results. We have found the data on the absence of significant differences in efficacy of antipsychotics relative to positive symptoms and mental disorganization symptoms except for advantages of clozapine in the treatment of resistant cases. It shown that the therapy efficacy from the position of treatment of negative, depressive, and cognitive symptoms is determined depending on: (1) how the reduction of positive symptoms (delirium and hallucinations) improves the secondary symptoms of disease, and (2) how side extrapyramidal effects (EPSE) and side anticholinergic effects are corrected by drugs administered to influence EPSE aggravating the mentioned symptoms. There is a reasonable opinion that strong antipsychotics that do not have accompanying extrapyramidal actions and do not require the combined anticholinergic therapy have huge therapeutic advantages. Conclusion. It is found that having much in common in efficacy all antipsychotics greatly differ in rate and intensity of side effects. Contrary to belief that second-generation antipsychotics (so called atypical antipsychotics) are normally considered the drugs with less risk of extrapyramidal actions and higher risk of metabolic side effects in comparison with traditional antipsychotics; the significant variability of frequency of these and other side effects of these two types of drugs indicates that such categorical distinguishing of pharmaceuticals is not clinically justified. The choice of antipsychotic should be based on individual preferences of patients, their therapeutic response to the previous treatment, history of presence and specifics of antipsychotic side effects, medical data on risk factors, level of compliance to the prescribed treatment, and, especially, the profile of side effects of various antipsychotics.

Impaired error processing in late-phase psychosis: Four-year stability and relationships with negative symptoms

Error processing is impaired in psychosis, and numerous event-related potential studies have found reductions in the error-related negativity (ERN) and, more recently, the error positivity (Pe). The stability of reduced ERN/Pe in psychosis, however, is unknown. In a previous cross-sectional report, reduced ERN was associated with negative symptom severity and reduced Pe with a diagnosis of schizophrenia versus other psychosis. Here, we test the stability of impaired error processing over a four-year follow-up and relationships with subdimensions of negative symptoms. The ERN and Pe were recorded from individuals with psychotic disorders twice: 79 individuals were assessed 15years after first hospitalization, and 69 were assessed at 19years; 59 (26 with schizophrenia, 33 with other psychotic disorders) had data at both assessments. At 19years the Pe was blunted in schizophrenia. The ERN and Pe exhibited temporal stability over the four years (r=0.59 and 0.60, respectively). Reduced ERN and Pe correlated with the negative symptom subdimensions of inexpressivity and avolition, respectively, and not with psychotic or disorganized symptoms. Moreover, 15-year ERN predicted an increase in inexpressivity by year 19. No evidence was found for the reverse: negative symptoms did not predict change in ERN/Pe. Similar to non-clinical samples, the ERN and Pe show impressive four-year stability in late-phase psychosis. The ERN and Pe are promising neural measures for capturing individual differences in psychotic disorders, particularly with regard to negative symptomatology. They may prove to be useful clinically for forecasting illness course and as treatment targets.

Influence of cognition, premorbid adjustment and psychotic symptoms on psycho-social functioning in first-episode psychosis

ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between psycho-social functioning and symptoms, cognitive function, and premorbid adjustment, in patients with a first-episode psychosis. Method: Clinical data were obtained from 90 patients, who were assessed with the Disability Assessment Scale (DAS-sv), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS-S) and with a battery of cognitive tests including Trail Making Tests A and B (TMTA- B), Continous Performance Test (CPT), some subscales of the Wechler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), and the Verbal Learning Test España-Complutense (TAVEC). Results: The results of the study suggest that psycho-social functioning in first-episode psychosis is significantly related to: positive, negative, excitative, affective and disorganized symptoms, social premorbid adjustment, cognitive flexibility, working memory, short term and long term memory. Of these, those which best explained psycho-social functioning are the positive and excitative symptoms, premorbid adjustment, flexibility and memory. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance early intervention on cognitive and clinical variables to help provide a better psycho-social functioning in people with a first-episode of psychosis.

Insight among people with severe mental illness, co-occurring PTSD and elevated psychotic symptoms: Correlates and relationship to treatment participation

BackgroundThere is a dearth of research on what factors are predictive of insight among people with severe mental illness and co-occurring PTSD. MethodData were drawn from 146 participants with severe mental illness, co-occurring PTSD and elevated psychotic symptoms participating in a randomized controlled trial comparing two interventions for PTSD among people with severe mental illness. We examined the clinical and demographic correlates of insight at baseline, the relationship between baseline insight and treatment participation, the relationship between treatment participation and post-treatment insight, and the relationship between change in insight and change in other clinical variables. ResultsImpaired insight was relatively common, with roughly half the sample demonstrating mild or moderate impairment at baseline. Baseline insight was associated with fewer psychotic and disorganized symptoms, and greater emotional discomfort and PTSD knowledge, but was not associated with negative symptoms, PTSD symptoms, depression/anxiety, or treatment participation. Participation in PTSD treatment was associated with increased insight at post-treatment. Improved insight was associated with improvements in disorganization and negative symptoms, but not with knowledge of PTSD or positive symptoms. DiscussionThe findings suggest that engagement in treatment that includes educating people about PTSD may lead to improvements in insight and related improvements in other psychiatric symptoms.

Editorial: Schizophrenia: Human and Animal Studies.

Schizophrenia is a complex disorder with relatively stable prevalence rates estimated at about 0.5–1% (Saha et al., 2005). Schizophrenia is characterized by the occurrence of various psychopathological symptoms that have been described as positive symptoms (delusions and hallucinations), negative symptoms (apathy, lack of motivation, flat affect, poverty of speech, and social withdrawal), disorganized symptoms (disorganized speech and behavior), and cognitive impairment (Moustafa et al., 2016). Traditionally, cognitive impairment was thought to be evident only in elderly deteriorated patients with schizophrenia; however, over the past 25 years, a body of evidence challenged this view and showed that cognitive dysfunction is a core feature of schizophrenia (O'Carroll, 2000; Weickert et al., 2000; Bora et al., 2010). Cognitive deficits can be moderate to severe across several domains, including attention, working memory, verbal learning and memory, and executive functions (Weickert et al., 2000; Bowie and Harvey, 2006). These deficits pre-date the onset of psychosis and further decline in cognitive functioning is observed in the course of illness in most patients (Trotta et al., 2015). Numerous rehabilitation programs have been developed in order to alleviate the burden associated with cognitive impairment in schizophrenia since cognitive deficits respond poorly to antipsychotic treatment (Tao et al., 2015). Below we describe articles in this research topic (mostly focusing on cognitive studies in schizophrenia), dividing them into human vs. animal studies.

Reduced Frontoparietal Activity in Schizophrenia Is Linked to a Specific Deficit in Goal Maintenance: A Multisite Functional Imaging Study.

Patients with schizophrenia (SZ) previously demonstrated specific deficits in an executive function known as goal maintenance, associated with reduced middle frontal gyrus (MFG) activity. This study aimed to validate a new tool-the Dot Pattern Expectancy (DPX) task-developed to facilitate multisite imaging studies of goal maintenance deficits in SZ or other disorders. Additionally, it sought to arrive at recommendations for scan length for future studies using the DPX. Forty-seven SZ and 56 healthy controls (HC) performed the DPX in 3-Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanners at 5 sites. Group differences in DPX-related activity were examined with whole brain voxelwise analyses. SZs showed the hypothesized specific performance deficits with as little as 1 block of data. Reduced activity in SZ compared with HC was observed in bilateral frontal pole/MFG, as well as left posterior parietal lobe. Efficiency analyses found significant group differences in activity using 18 minutes of scan data but not 12 minutes. Several behavioral and imaging findings from the goal maintenance literature were robustly replicated despite the use of different scanners at different sites. We did not replicate a previous correlation with disorganization symptoms among patients. Results were consistent with an executive/attention network dysfunction in the higher levels of a cascading executive system responsible for goal maintenance. Finally, efficiency analyses found that 18 minutes of scanning during the DPX task is sufficient to detect group differences with a similar sample size.

A confirmatory factor analysis of the MATRICS consensus cognitive battery in severe mental illness

BackgroundA recent factor analysis of Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) data in a sample of schizophrenia-spectrum patients described a three factor model representing processing speed, attention/working memory, and learning; the social cognition measure was excluded from the analysis. The current analyses sought to replicate a three factor structure of the MCCB in a larger, more diagnostically diverse sample of participants. MethodsConfirmatory factor analyses were performed to evaluate the factor structure of the MCCB in 300 outpatients with severe mental illness (54.3% schizophrenia-spectrum diagnoses) who were participants in three studies of cognitive remediation. Exploratory analyses were conducted to evaluate the concurrent prediction of symptoms from MCCB factor scores. ResultsThe three factor structure of the MCCB demonstrated stronger model fit (χ2=14.53, p=0.75, SRMR=0.02, RMSEA=0.0, CFI=1.00, NNFI=1.01) than the unifactoral structure. Poorer cognitive performance across all three MCCB factors was significantly correlated with more severe overall and disorganization symptoms from the PANSS and BPRS, and less severe affective symptoms (e.g., depression, anxiety) in the overall sample. ConclusionsA three factor structure of the MCCB—composed of processing speed, attention/working memory, and learning—was replicated in a heterogeneous sample of persons with severe mental illness. Cognitive performance on the MCCB factors is associated with clinical symptoms.

Disorganization and Individual Psychotherapy for Schizophrenia: A Case Report of Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy

Despite being a characteristic symptom of schizophrenia, implications for therapy with persons experiencing prominent disorganization have received less attention in the psychotherapy literature than have other aspects of the disorder. As such, formal thought disorder may be viewed largely as a barrier to effective participation in therapy. In contrast, though, a range of writers from varied traditions have stressed that this feature of schizophrenia is meaningful and improved coherence of speech is an important and viable component of treatment and recovery. This paper suggests that an emergent integrative psychotherapy, metacognitive reflection and insight therapy (MERIT), may be well-suited for work with persons experiencing disorganization symptoms. A brief overview of MERIT is provided, followed by a case report of an 18-month course of therapy with a man with severely disorganized speech.

Hallucinations without delusions in patients with first-episode psychosis: Clinical correlates and implications for pathophysiological models

IntroductionThe symptomatic distribution in schizophrenia spectrum disorder is heterogeneous. Patients may experience hallucinations, delusions and combinations thereof, in addition to disorganized and negative symptoms. We have previously found that patients with monosymptomatic hallucinations exhibited a different clinical profile than patients with monosymptomatic delusions or combinations of the two; with an earlier age at onset and more suicidal symptoms.AimsTo replicate findings in a new group of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.MethodsA total of 421 consecutive patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were included into the study. They were comprehensively assessed by specifically trained psychiatrists or clinical psychologists; using the SCID for DSM-IV for diagnostic purposes, the PANSS to assess current clinical symptoms and CDSS to assess current depression. Lifetime presence of different symptom types was ascertained during the diagnostic interview.ResultsA total of 346 (82%) had experienced both hallucinations and delusion, 63 (15%) had experienced delusions without hallucinations, 10 (2.5%) had experienced hallucinations without delusions and 2 patients (0.5%) had neither but experienced negative and severely disorganized symptoms. Contrary to hypothesis, we did not find any statistically significant differences in age at onset and in clinical symptoms (including suicidality) between these groups. We also did not find any differences in the type of hallucinatory experiences between hallucinating groups.ConclusionsIn a new sample of patients, we did not replicate previous findings of a different clinical profile in patients with monosymptomatic hallucinations. This type of psychotic disorder is relatively rare, which might pose a problem concerning statistical strength.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms interact with disorganization in influencing social functioning in schizophrenia

Objective Recent research has suggested a dual impact of obsessive-compulsive dimension on functioning in schizophrenia with a gradual transition from an improving to a worsening effect depending on obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) severity (from mild to moderate-severe). Aim of the present study was to investigate whether this varying effect of OCS on functioning might be mediated or moderated by schizophrenia symptom dimensions or occur independently. Method Seventy-five patients affected by schizophrenia were administered the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale and the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment. The sample was divided into two groups according to the severity of OCS (absent/mild and moderate/high OCS group). Results In both groups, the effect of OCS on functioning was not mediated by their effect on positive, negative or disorganization symptoms. Conversely, a significant interaction between OCS and disorganization dimension was found: the dual effect of OCS on functioning occurred only among patients with low disorganization symptoms while it was no more apparent at high levels of disorganization. Conclusion Data suggest that in patients with functioning at least in part depends on the interaction between disorganization and OCS. Particularly, since mild OCS contribute to lesser functional decline in patients with low disorganized psychosis, they may favor the constitution of a subtype of schizophrenia with a better functioning. In keeping with the historical concept of pseudoneurotic schizophrenia, we speculate that obsessive dimension might have a pathoplastic influence, balancing the effect of low disorganization symptoms.

Disorganized attachment and psychological symptoms in children with somatic symptoms disorders

IntroductionSomatic symptoms disorders (SSD) are one of the most neglected areas in child and adolescent psychiatry (Mohapatra et al., 2014). SSD are characterized by multiple and variable physical symptoms without demonstrable pathophysiological processes. Literature has investigated the role of several psychological variables in SSD, with inconclusive data. Moreover, there is a paucity of studies on middle-childhood and early adolescence in this clinical condition.ObjectivesWe focus on the role of attachment and on psychological aspects in children with SSD.AimsThe aims are to verify the presence of:– an overrepresentation of attachment disorganization in these children;– an overrepresentation of psychological symptoms.MethodsFifty-six consecutive Italian patients with SSD, aged from 8 to 15, were administered Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 1991) and Child Attachment Interview (Shmueli-Goetz et al., 2000).ResultsFindings showed:– a significant presence of disorganized attachment with respect to both parents;– high levels of anxiety and depression.ConclusionThis study extended previous research in middle-childhood and early adolescence in SSD. The findings support the influence of the disorganization aspects and the psychological problems surrounding the SSD. The clinical implications for future research directions are discussed.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Clinical symptomatology and theory of mind in schizophrenia: Which relationship?

IntroductionTheory of mind (ToM) has repeatedly been shown to be compromised in many patients with schizophrenia (SCZ). It now seems to be quite well-established that patients with profound negative or disorganized symptoms perform poorly on ToM tasks. By contrast, findings in patients with predominant positive symptoms are much more ambiguous.ObjectivesTo investigate the relationship between ToM deficits and different symptoms dimensions in SCZ.MethodsFifty-eight outpatients with stable SCZ completed the intention-inferencing task (IIT), in which the ability to infer a character's intentions from 28 short comic strip stories is assessed. Symptomatology evaluation comprised the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) and the Clinical Global Impressions Scale Improvement and severity (CGI).ResultsThe number of correct answers in the IIT negatively correlated with both the positive (P = 0.015) and negative (P &lt; 0.0001) scales of the PANSS. ToM deficits were correlated with the conceptual disorganization, hallucinations and the suspiciousness/persecution items.The patients who had more false answers in the IIT also had significantly higher scores at the positive (P = 0.005), negative (P &lt; 0.0001) and general (P &lt; 0.0001) scales of the PANSS. Worse IIT performance correlated with a higher severity index in the CGI. No correlations were found between IIT scores and CDSS scores.ConclusionsOur results confirm the relationship between ToM deficits and negative symtomps and suggest that ToM may also be correlated to specific positive symptoms.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Obsessive–compulsive symptoms interact with disorganization in influencing social functioning in schizophrenia

ObjectiveRecent research has suggested a dual impact of obsessive–compulsive dimension on functioning in schizophrenia with a gradual transition from an improving to a worsening effect depending on obsessive–compulsive symptoms (OCS) severity (from mild to moderate–severe). Aim of the present study was to investigate whether this varying effect of OCS on functioning might be mediated or moderated by schizophrenia symptom dimensions or occur independently. MethodSeventy-five patients affected by schizophrenia were administered the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, the Yale-Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale and the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment.The sample was divided into two groups according to the severity of OCS (absent/mild and moderate/high OCS group). ResultsIn both groups, the effect of OCS on functioning was not mediated by their effect on positive, negative or disorganization symptoms. Conversely, a significant interaction between OCS and disorganization dimension was found: the dual effect of OCS on functioning occurred only among patients with low disorganization symptoms while it was no more apparent at high levels of disorganization. ConclusionData suggest that in patients with schizophrenia, functioning at least in part depends on the interaction between disorganization and OCS.

Study protocol: a randomised controlled trial of cognitive remediation for a national cohort of forensic mental health patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

BackgroundEvidence is accumulating that cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) is an effective intervention for patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. To date there has been no randomised controlled trial (RCT) cohort study of cognitive remediation within a forensic hospital. The goal of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a trial of cognitive remediation for forensic mental health patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.MethodsAn estimated sixty patients will be enrolled in the study. Participants will be randomised to one of two conditions: CRT with treatment as usual (TAU), or TAU. CRT will consist of 42 individual sessions and 14 group sessions. The primary outcome measure for this study is change in cognitive functioning using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). Secondary outcomes include change in social and occupational functioning, disorganised symptoms, negative symptoms, violence, participation in psychosocial treatment and recovery. In addition to these effectiveness measures, we will examine patient satisfaction.DiscussionCognitive difficulties experienced by schizophrenia spectrum patients are associated with general functioning, ability to benefit from psychosocial interventions and quality of life. Research into the treatment of cognitive difficulties within a forensic setting is therefore an important priority. The results of the proposed study will help answer the question whether cognitive remediation improves functional outcomes in forensic mental health patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Forensic mental health patients are detained for the dual purpose of receiving treatment and for public protection. There can be conflict between these two roles perhaps causing forensic services to have an increased length of stay compared to general psychiatric admissions. Ultimately a focus on emphasising cognition and general functioning over symptoms may decrease tension between the core responsibilities of forensic mental health services.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02360813. Trial registered Feb 4th 2015 and last updated May 1st 2015.