Cognitive function and social cognition in young first-episode psychosis patients

The aim of the present study is to examine neuropsychological- and social cognition test performance in young first-episode psychosis patients and normal controls. Furthermore, the study will examine the amount of variance in two different social cognition tests (the Hinting Task and the Facial Emotion Identification Test (FEIT)) explained by different cognitive functions for the clinical group. Studies have examined the relationship between cognitive function and social cognition in schizophrenic patients, but relatively few studies have examined this relation in young first-episode psychosis patients using more complex cognitive tests such as the Logical Memory Test and the Matrix Reasoning. In this study, 28 patients in the early stages of psychotic disorder and 32 healthy controls carried out both neuropsychological- and social cognitive tests. The results revealed that the clinical group performed significantly worse than the healthy controls on nine neuropsychological- and two social cognition measures after controlling for education level. The result from linear regression with multiple independent models showed that different cognitive functions were significantly related to performance on the FEIT and the Hinting Task. Overall, the Logical Memory Test, the Matrix Reasoning, the Digit Symbol Coding Test and the Trail Making Test A explained between 17.1 and 35.5% of the variance in the FEIT and the Hinting Task. Findings from the present study indicates that cognitive tests, which require complex cognitive ability, account for a greater portion of variance in social cognition than do cognitive tests measuring primary cognitive functions. Keywords: cognitive function, social cognition, young first-episode psychosis patients

Author dc:creator

• Arnar Ingi Friðriksson 1989-

Contributors dc:contributor

• Háskólinn í Reykjavík

• Sálfræði
• Meistaraprófsritgerðir
• Vitsmunasálfræði
• Psychology
• Cognitive psychology

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1946/25716

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:skemman.is:1946/25716