School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia.
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Psychiatry Res. 2021 May;299:113852. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113852. Epub 2021 Mar 2.
Theoretical models suggest that it is the interplay between social cognitive processes that result in adaptive social functioning in schizophrenia. This study explored the relative contributions of, and interplay between, cognitive empathy, affective theory of mind (ToM), neurocognition, and severity of clinical symptoms, in predicting the social functioning of individuals with schizophrenia. Clinical participants (early schizophrenia n = 26, chronic schizophrenia n = 32) were administered an ecologically valid measure of ToM (viz., the Virtual Assessment of Mentalising Ability or VAMA) and the Empathy Quotient (EQ) as part of a larger neuropsychological and social functioning assessment battery. Results indicated that individuals with early schizophrenia reported significantly better cognitive empathy than individuals with chronic schizophrenia. ToM was found to have added value in predicting both community functioning and functional capacity that was beyond that accounted for by cognitive empathy, clinical symptoms, and neurocognition for both clinical groups. Further, our results indicated that the capacity to demonstrate empathic understanding of another's situation (i.e., cognitive empathy) mediates the relationship between ToM and social functioning. Together, our findings highlight the intricate and compounding nature of social cognition constructs, and their effect on social functioning for individuals with schizophrenia.
理论模型表明，正是社会认知过程的相互作用导致了精神分裂症患者的适应性社会功能。本研究探讨了认知同理心、情感心理理论（ToM）、神经认知和临床症状严重程度在预测精神分裂症个体社会功能方面的相对贡献和相互作用。临床参与者（早期精神分裂症 n=26，慢性精神分裂症 n=32）接受了一种生态有效的 ToM 测量（即虚拟心理评估能力或 VAMA）和同理心商数（EQ），作为更大的神经心理学和社会功能评估组合的一部分。结果表明，早期精神分裂症患者报告的认知同理心明显好于慢性精神分裂症患者。对于两个临床组，ToM 被发现除了认知同理心、临床症状和神经认知之外，对社区功能和功能能力的预测具有附加价值。此外，我们的结果表明，对他人情况表示共情理解的能力（即认知同理心）在 ToM 和社会功能之间的关系中起中介作用。总之，我们的发现强调了社会认知结构的复杂和复杂性质，以及它们对精神分裂症患者社会功能的影响。
