Suttonogden1140

Deficits in social skills are common among people with psychosis and may contribute to the severity of the stigmatization they experience. The aim of the present research was to shed light on the mechanisms through which lack of interpersonal competence may lead to an increased exposure to stigma by investigating the mediating effects of social network and social support.

A sample of 207 patients diagnosed with psychotic disorders was recruited for the study. UNC5293 The pattern of relationships between interpersonal competence, social network, social support and experienced stigma was analyzed using path modeling.

The level of interpersonal competence was found to be directly negatively related to the intensity of experienced stigma (β=-0.20, SE=0.08; P<0.05) and directly positively related to the scope of social network (β=0.36, SE=0.08, P<0.01) and social support (β=0.36, SE=0.08, P<0.01). The analysis of mediation pathways between interpersonal competence and stigma experiences revealed significantidered as possible targets of anti-stigma interventions.

Suicide is a leading cause of death for individuals with psychosis. Although factors influencing suicide risk have been studied in schizophrenia, far less is known about factors that protect against or trigger increased risk during early-stage and first episode of psychosis. This study examined whether depression, psychotic symptoms, clinical insight, and cognition were associated with suicide ideation among individuals with first-episode psychosis.

Data were obtained from the Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) project. Participants (n=404) included adults between ages 15 and 40 in a first episode of psychosis. Measurement included the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia, and Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia. A logistic regression model evaluated clinical and cognitive variables as predictors of suicidal ideation.

Greater positive symptoms (OR=1.085, p<.01) and depression (OR=1.258, p<.001) were associated with increasf cognition and insight in risk for suicide ideation in early-stage psychosis, which may aid in improving the prediction of suicide behaviors and inform clinical decision-making over the course of the illness.Self-referential gaze perception (SRGP)-the perception that others' gaze is towards oneself-is a core experience in patients with schizophrenia, and may be related to common delusional themes such as delusions of reference. Studies exploring SRGP bias in schizophrenia are limited and results have been inconsistent, particularly regarding its relationship with symptomatology and cognition. Seventy-five patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (25 with high level of reference delusion, 25 with low reference delusion and 25 in clinical remission) and 25 matched healthy controls were compared in a gaze perception task to judge whether averted gaze with varied ambiguity was directed at them. All subjects were assessed with delusion and reference ideations and cognitive functions. Psychotic symptoms were assessed in patients. Gaze perception analysis adopted both behavioural and psychophysical approaches. Group differences and predictors of SRGP in ambiguous and unambiguous conditions were investigated. Both groups of symptomatic patients displayed higher ambiguous SRGP rate, and the group with high reference delusions showed more unambiguous SRGP bias. Cognitive functions were negatively associated with SRGP rate while positive and negative symptoms were positively associated. Cognitive function was the only significant predictor for ambiguous-SRGP rate. Patients with psychotic symptoms have hypermentalization of gaze perception as towards oneself, whereas patients with delusions of reference have more profound bias in gaze perception. General cognition is implicated in SRGP rate. Future studies could investigate interventions with targeted psychopathological profiles by improving non-social cognitive functions to test the hypothesis that cognitive functioning is related to SRGP bias and delusional beliefs.

Schizophrenia patients show widespread deficits in neurocognitive, clinical, and psychosocial functioning. Mismatch negativity (MMN) and gamma-band auditory steady-state response (ASSR) are robust translational biomarkers associated with schizophrenia and associated with cognitive dysfunction, negative symptom severity, and psychosocial disability. Although these biomarkers are conceptually linked as measures of early auditory information processing, it is unclear whether MMN and gamma-band ASSR account for shared vs. non-shared variance in cognitive, clinical, and psychosocial functioning.

Multiple regression analyses with MMN, gamma-band ASSR, and clinical measures were performed in large cohorts of schizophrenia outpatients (N=428) and healthy comparison subjects (N=283).

Reduced MMN (d=0.67), gamma-band ASSR (d=-0.40), and lower cognitive function were confirmed in schizophrenia patients. Regression analyses revealed that reduced MMN amplitude showed unique associations with lower verbal learning anterventions.

To assess changes in cannabis use in young adults as a function of psychotic-like experiences.

Participants were initially recruited at age 14 in high schools for the longitudinal IMAGEN study. All measures presented here were assessed at follow-ups at age 19 and at age 22, respectively. Perceived stress was only assessed once at age 22. Ever users of cannabis (N=552) gave qualitative and quantitative information on cannabis use and psychotic-like experiences using the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE). Of those, nearly all n=549 reported to have experienced at least one psychotic experience of any form at age 19.

Mean cannabis use increased from age 19 to 22 and age of first use of cannabis was positively associated with a change in cannabis use between the two time points. Change in cannabis use was not significantly associated with psychotic-like experiences at age 19 or 22. In exploratory analysis, we observed a positive association between perceived stress and the experience of psychotic experiences at age 22.