Measuring insight through patient self-report: An in-depth analysis of the factor structure of the Birchwood Insight Scale

Little research has focused on item analysis and factor structure of the most commonly used measures of insight. We examined the factorial structure of the Birchwood Insight Scale (BIS), a brief, easy-to-administer, self-report measure. We studied the BIS in 327 first-episode psychosis patients, including a test sample (n=163) and a validation sample (n=164). We then used data from 100 patients with chronic serious mental illnesses as a second, external validation sample. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted with the test subsample, and confirmatory factor analyses with the two validation samples. Confirmatory factor analyses (in both the first-episode psychosis validation sample and the chronic serious mental illness sample) indicated that a single-factor solution, with seven items loading on a single factor—with item 1 (“Some of your symptoms are made by your mind”) eliminated—was the best-fitting model. Seven of the eight original BIS items loading on a single factor fit the data well in these samples. Researchers using this efficient measure of patient-reported insight should assess the item distributions and factor structure of the BIS in their samples, and potentially consider eliminating item 1.     

Examining the cognitive model of caregiving – A structural equation modelling approach

The study tests assumptions from the “cognitive model of caregiving” (Kuipers et al., 2010), which aims to inform interventions for carers of people with psychoses. The sample comprised 61 relatives of patients with schizophrenia. Standardized psychological assessments were conducted twice within 6 months including Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire (IEQ-EU), a short form of the Symptom Checklist 90-R (SCL K9), the Family Questionnaire (FQ), scales measuring control attributions of the Illness Perception Questionnaire for Schizophrenia (IPQS-R) and emotions toward the ill relative. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse data. We identified two pathways: (a) from “attributing control to relatives” to distress, intermediated by anxiety for the patient and emotional overinvolvement (EOI), and (b) from “attribution control to patient” to distress, intermediated by anger about the patient and criticism. The model provided a good fit to the data and was successfully replicated at a second point in time. We were able to find supporting evidence for a cognitive model of caregiving. Control attributions and emotions of informal caregivers are important when interventions are planned reducing expressed emotion and burden of caregivers.     

Assessing blinding in trials of psychiatric disorders: A meta-analysis based on blinding index

The assessment of blinding in RCTs is rarely performed. Currently most studies that do report data on evaluation of blinding merely report percentages of correct guessing, not taking into account correct guessing by chance. Blinding assessment using the blinding index (BI) has never been performed in a systematic review on studies of major psychiatric disorders. This study is a systematic review of psychiatric randomized control trials using the BI as a chance-corrected measurement of blinding, a tool to analyze and understand the patterns of blinding across studies of major psychiatric disorders with available data. Of 2467 psychiatric RCTs from 2000 to 2010, 66 reported on blinding and 40 studies were found to have enough information on evaluation of blinding to be analyzed using the BI. The experimental treatment groups had an average BI value of 0.14 and the control groups had an average BI value of 0.00. The most common BI scenario was random–random, indicating ideal blinding. A positive correlation between effect size and more correct guesses was also found. Overall, based on BI values and the most common blinding scenario, the published articles on major psychiatric disorders from 2000 to 2010, which reported on blinding assessment for patients, were effectively blinded.     

Impaired automatization of a cognitive skill in first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia

We studied healthy, first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia to test the hypothesis that deficits in cognitive skill learning are associated with genetic liability to schizophrenia. Using the Weather Prediction Task (WPT), 23 healthy controls and 10 adult first-degree Relatives Of Schizophrenia (ROS) patients were examined to determine the extent to which cognitive skill learning was automated using a dual-task paradigm to detect subtle impairments in skill learning. Automatization of a skill is the ability to execute a task without the demand for executive control and effortful behavior and is a skill in which schizophrenia patients possess a deficit. ROS patients did not differ from healthy controls in accuracy or reaction time on the WPT either during early or late training on the single-task trials. In contrast, the healthy control and ROS groups were differentially affected during the dual-task trials. Our results demonstrate that the ROS group did not automate the task as well as controls and continued to rely on controlled processing even after extensive practice. This suggests that adult ROS patients may engage in compensatory strategies to achieve normal levels of performance and support the hypothesis that impaired cognitive skill learning is associated with genetic risk for schizophrenia.     

Identification of psychopathological course trajectories in schizophrenia

Course trajectory analyses have been performed primarily for treatment response in acute episodes of schizophrenic disorders. As yet, corresponding data for the long-term course are lacking. Within a multicenter prospective observational study, 268 patients with schizophrenia were assessed at discharge from hospital and followed up after 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. A latent class growth analysis was performed on the scores from the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). A two-class conditional latent class model showed the best data fit (Entropy: 0.924). The model divided the sample into a group with amelioration in all PANSS subscales (60%) and a group with stable positive/negative and deteriorating general psychopathology symptoms (40%). Global functioning (GAF score), gender, age, living situation and involuntary admission predicted course trajectory class membership. The model was predictive of significant differences between the two groups in health care service costs and quality of life. The results underline the heterogeneous course of the illness, which ranged from amelioration to deterioration over a 2-year period. Statistical models such as trajectory analysis could help to identify more homogenous subtypes in schizophrenia.     

Social support and functional outcome in severe mental illness: The mediating role of proactive coping

Individuals with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) are faced with wide-spread social and occupational impairment, yet some are able to achieve a meaningful degree of functional improvement. A structural model based on Proactive Coping Theory was developed and tested in a longitudinal context to better understand: (1) the impact of proactive processes on functioning for people with SMI, and (2) the stability of the theoretical framework over time for this population. A latent path analysis examining social support, positive reappraisal, intrinsic motivation, and role functioning was tested with 148 severely mentally ill individuals receiving psychosocial rehabilitation treatment at baseline. An observed path analysis of the model was examined at six months post-baseline with 102 people. The baseline model displayed an excellent fit to the data and accounted for 54% of the variance in role functioning. Results at time 2 also suggest the empirical promise and potential longitudinal viability of the model. In line with Proactive Coping Theory and a social resources model of coping, social support may facilitate proactive coping processes to enhance role functioning, and these processes may be stable over time for people with SMI.     

Metacognition in psychosis: Comparison of schizophrenia with bipolar disorder

While deficits in metacognition have been observed in schizophrenia (SZ), it is less clear whether these are specific to the disorder. Accordingly, this study compared metacognitive abilities of patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BD) and examined the degree to which neurocognition contributed to metacognitive deficits in both groups. Participants were 30 patients with SZ and 30 with BD. Metacognitive capacity was measured using the Metacognition Assessment Scale Abbreviated (MAS-A). This scale comprises four domains: self-reflectivity, understanding others? minds, decentration and mastery. Verbal memory, executive functioning and symptoms were concurrently assessed. Group comparisons revealed that SZ patients had greater deficits in metacognitive self-reflectivity, which correctly classified 85.2% of patients with SZ in a logistic regression. Self-reflectivity and understanding others? minds were related to verbal memory and executive functioning in the SZ group, but not in the BD group. Furthermore, greater positive and general psychotic symptoms were associated with poorer metacognition in SZ. Results suggest SZ involves unique deficits in the ability to self-reflect and that these deficits may be uniquely linked with neurocognition.     

Physiological evidence of a deficit to enhance the empathic response in schizophrenia

Empathy is crucial for maintaining effective social interactions. Research has identified both an early-emotional sharing and a late-cognitive component of empathy. Although considered a functionally vital social cognition process, empathy has scarcely been studied in schizophrenia (SZ). We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to study the temporal dynamics of empathic response in 19 patients with SZ and 18 matched healthy controls (HC) using an empathy for physical pain paradigm. Participants responded to pictures of hands in neutral and painful situations in an active empathic condition and one manipulated by task demands. Additionally, subjective ratings of the stimuli and empathic self-reports were collected. People with SZ had (1) decreased early-emotional ERP responses to pictures of others in pain; (2) decreased modulation by attention of late-cognitive ERP responses; (3) lower ratings of perspective taking and higher ratings of personal distress which were both related to decreased modulation of late-cognitive empathic responses; (4) a significant relationship between high affective overlap between somebody else's pain and their own pain and decreased modulation of late-cognitive empathic responses; (5) a distinct relationship between regulatory deficits in late-cognitive empathy and functioning. Patients had present but reduced early and late empathy-related ERPs. Patients also reported increased personal distress when faced with distress in others. The late ERP responses are thought to be associated with self-regulation and response modulation. The magnitude of these late responses was inversely associated with reported levels of personal distress in both patients and controls. Additionally, regulatory deficits in cognitive empathy were highly related with deficits in functioning. Decreased ability to regulate one's own emotional engagement and response to emotions of others may be an important source of distress and dysfunction in social situations for patients with schizophrenia.     

A projection pursuit algorithm to classify individuals using fMRI data: Application to schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is diagnosed based largely upon behavioral symptoms. Currently, no quantitative, biologically based diagnostic technique has yet been developed to identify patients with schizophrenia. Classification of individuals into patient with schizophrenia and healthy control groups based on quantitative biologically based data is of great interest to support and refine psychiatric diagnoses. We applied a novel projection pursuit technique on various components obtained with independent component analysis (ICA) of 70 subjects' fMRI activation maps obtained during an auditory oddball task. The validity of the technique was tested with a leave-one-out method and the detection performance varied between 80% and 90%. The findings suggest that the proposed data reduction algorithm is effective in classifying individuals into schizophrenia and healthy control groups and may eventually prove useful as a diagnostic tool.     

CCMD—2—R精神分裂症诊断标准的临床应用与ICD—10、DSM—Ⅳ的比较

为了评价CCMD-2-R精神分裂症诊断标准与ICD-10、DSM-Ⅳ之间在临床应用中的一致性及其差异,检验CCMD-2-R的效度,本文选取50例临床诊断确定为“精神分裂症”的住院病人,通过SCAN检查与参阅住院病历相结合的方式收集病史,然后分别用CCMD-2-R、ICD-10、DSM-Ⅳ精神分裂症诊断标准去诊断,比较它们在框架内容、亚型诊断频度、亚型诊断符合率与症状标准内容方面的一致性。发现CCMD-2-R精神分裂症诊断标准与临床经验诊断、ICD-10之间有很好的一致性(K>0.75),与DSM-Ⅳ之间也有一定的一致性(K>0.40),提示CCMD-2-R精神分裂症诊断标准有良好的经验效度和平行效度。说明CCMD-2-R更加完善了我国精神分裂症诊断标准。