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Defeatist performance beliefs in individuals at clinical high‐risk for psychosis and outpatients with chronic schizophrenia
Author(s) -
Clay Kendall B.,
Raugh Ian M.,
Bartolomeo Lisa A.,
Strauss Gregory P.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
early intervention in psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.087
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1751-7893
pISSN - 1751-7885
DOI - 10.1111/eip.13024
Subject(s) - neurocognitive , psychosocial , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , psychosis , social functioning , cognition , psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , global assessment of functioning , social cognition , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , cognitive skill , medicine , distress
Aim Prior studies indicate that defeatist performance beliefs (DPBs) are elevated in those in the chronic phase of schizophrenia (SZ) and associated with negative symptoms, functional outcome and neurocognitive impairment. However, it is unclear whether these same patterns of results hold in participants at clinical high‐risk (CHR) for psychosis. Methods Two studies were conducted to determine whether prior results in SZ could be replicated and extended to CHR. Participants included 184 healthy controls (CN) and 186 outpatients with chronic SZ for Study 1, and 30 CN and 35 CHR in Study 2. In both studies, participants completed the DPB scale and measures of negative symptoms, psychosocial functioning and neurocognition. Results Both chronic SZ and CHR participants had elevated DPBs compared to CN ( p 's < .01). In SZ, higher DPBs were associated with greater negative symptoms ( r 's = .31‐.37, p 's < .01), poorer social functioning and impaired social cognition ( r = −.40, P < .001). In CHR, greater DPBs were associated with poorer social functioning ( r = −.52, P < .05) and impairments in the neurocognitive domains of reasoning ( r = −.48, P < .05) and processing speed ( r = −.41, P < .05). Models testing whether DPBs mediated links between negative symptoms and functioning, negative symptoms and cognition and cognition and functioning were nonsignificant in SZ and CHR samples. Conclusions Findings generally provide support for the cognitive model of negative symptoms and functioning and suggest that DPBs are an important clinical target across phases of psychotic illness.