Can cognitive insight predict symptom remission in a first episode psychosis cohort?

Background: The outcome of first episode psychosis (FEP) is highly variable and difficult to predict. Cognitive insight measured at illness onset has previously been found to predict psychopathology 12-months later. The aims of this study were to examine whether the prospective relationship between cognitive insight and symptom severity is evident at four-years following FEP and to examine some psychological correlates of cognitive insight.

Interaction between cannabis consumption and childhood abuse in psychotic disorders: preliminary findings on the role of different patterns of cannabis use.

Aim: Several studies have suggested that lifetime cannabis consumption and childhood abuse synergistically contribute to the risk for psychotic disorders. This study aimed to extend existing findings regarding an additive interaction between childhood abuse and lifetime cannabis use by investigating the moderating role of type and frequency of cannabis use.

Methods: Up to 231 individuals presenting for the first time to mental health services with psychotic disorders and 214 unaffected population controls from South London, United Kingdom, were recruited as part of the Genetics and Psychosis study.

Jumping to conclusions and the persistence of delusional beliefs in first episode psychosis.

Background: Cognitive biases may contribute to delusion persistence. We tested this in a longitudinal study of first episode psychosis (FEP).

Methods: 34 FEP patients completed assessments of delusions and Jumping to Conclusions (JTC) at baseline and 12-month follow-up.

Jumping to conclusions, neuropsychological functioning, and delusional beliefs in first episode psychosis.

Background: The "jumping to conclusions" (JTC) data-gathering bias is implicated in the development and maintenance of psychosis but has only recently been studied in first episode psychosis (FEP). In this study, we set out to establish the relationship of JTC in FEP with delusions and neuropsychological functioning.

Methods: One hundred and eight FEP patients and 101 age-matched controls completed assessments of delusions, general intelligence (IQ), working memory (WM), and JTC (the probabilistic reasoning "beads" task).

Do psychosis patients with poor insight show implicit awareness on the emotional stroop task?

Background: The insight into psychosis can be assessed reliably by clinicians from interviews with patients. However, patients may retain implicit awareness of illness while lacking explicit awareness.

Sampling And Methods: In a sample of first-episode psychosis patients, we used a test of processing of mental illness-related and other negative words as a measure of implicit awareness to see how this varied in relation to insight.

Neuropsychological, clinical and cognitive insight predictors of outcome in a first episode psychosis study.

The outcome of first episode psychosis (FEP) is highly variable and difficult to predict. We studied prospectively the impact of poor insight and neuropsychological deficits on outcomes in a longitudinal cohort of 127 FEP patients. Participants were assessed on 5 domains of cognitive function and 2 domains of insight (clinical and cognitive).

"I am sane but he is mad": Insight and illness attributions to self and others in psychosis.

We attempted to explore whether lack of insight in patients with psychosis is related to their genuine inability to recognise symptoms of mental illness as opposed to denial. We addressed this by examining participants' judgments of illness in vignettes in which they were either the protagonist or were commenting on others' behaviour. We recruited 44 first episode psychosis patients and 23 healthy controls to make judgements of specially constructed vignettes describing psychotic symptoms.

Is deterioration of IQ a feature of first episode psychosis and how can we measure it?

Estimates of pre-morbid IQ are widely used to measure the trajectory of cognitive function and decline in people with schizophrenia. This study examined the usefulness of two indices of decline to identify cognitive subtypes in first episode psychosis, and to determine the specificity of non-IQ neuropsychological impairments in this population. Neuropsychological data were collected from 118 first episode psychosis patients and compared to 118 epidemiologically matched controls.

Are there specific neuropsychological deficits underlying poor insight in first episode psychosis?

Insight in psychosis is a multi-dimensional phenomenon, and has been hypothesised to have some sort of neuropsychological basis. It is unclear to what extent specific neuropsychological abilities are able to predict insight beyond the effect of generalised cognitive ability. We aimed to test this association, alongside the relationship of insight with illness duration and diagnosis, in a sample of first episode psychosis patients.