Abstract | BACKGROUND: Mentalising impairment (an impaired ability to think about people in terms of their mental states) has frequently been associated with schizophrenia. AIMS: To assess the magnitude of the deficit and analyse associated factors. METHOD: Twenty-nine studies of mentalising in schizophrenia (combined n=1518), published between January 1993 and May 2006, were included to estimate overall effect size. Study descriptors predicted to influence effect size were analysed using weighted regression-analysis techniques. Separate analyses were performed for symptom subgroups and task types. RESULTS: The estimated overall effect size was large and statistically significant (d=-1.255, P<0.0001) and was not significantly affected by sample characteristics. All symptom subgroups showed significant mentalising impairment, but participants with symptoms of disorganisation were significantly more impaired than the other subgroups (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis showed significant and stable mentalising impairment in schizophrenia. The finding that patients in remission are also impaired favours the notion that mentalising impairment represents a possible trait marker of schizophrenia.
|
Authors | Mirjam Sprong, Patricia Schothorst, Ellen Vos, Joop Hox, Herman van Engeland |
Journal | The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science
(Br J Psychiatry)
Vol. 191
Pg. 5-13
(Jul 2007)
ISSN: 0007-1250 [Print] England |
PMID | 17602119
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Meta-Analysis, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Review)
|
Topics |
- Adult
- Child
- Child, Preschool
- Cognition Disorders
(epidemiology, psychology)
- Effect Modifier, Epidemiologic
- Humans
- Schizophrenia
(classification, epidemiology)
- Schizophrenic Psychology
- Severity of Illness Index
- Social Perception
- Statistics as Topic
|