Decreased insight, but not self-stigma or belief about medicine, is associated with greater severity of delusions in a sample of long-stay patients with schizophrenia: a cross-sectional study.

Background: There are, to date, limited and inconsistent findings concerning the relationship between insight and psychotic symptoms, despite some evidence in favor of the clinical and therapeutic relevance of the insight construct. We aimed to add to the pool of the available data in this area, by examining the correlations between the severity of insight and positive psychotic symptoms (delusions and auditory hallucinations), while accounting for self-stigma and attitudes towards medication, in a sample of long-stay inpatients with schizophrenia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross, between July and October 2021.