Comparative meta-analyses of neuropsychological functioning in antisocial schizophrenic persons

To test the hypothesis that antisocial persons with schizophrenia are characterized by a distinct profile of neurocognitive deficits, meta-analyses of 43 studies were conducted to compare the neuropsychological performance of antisocial schizophrenic individuals to non-antisocial schizophrenic individuals, and to antisocial individuals without schizophrenia. Performance was evaluated across several different domains of neuropsychological functioning for both types of comparisons. Results indicated antisocial schizophrenic individuals demonstrated widespread deficits across multiple domains (Full Scale IQ, Verbal and Performance IQ, attention, broadly-defined executive function, and memory) in comparison to their antisocial counterparts. However, in comparison to their schizophrenic counterparts, persons with antisocial schizophrenia were characterized instead by reduced general intellectual functioning and memory dysfunction (as opposed to hypothesized Verbal IQ and executive function deficits). Findings may suggest a biologically distinct subgroup of antisocial schizophrenic individuals, whose study and treatment require differing approaches from those traditionally used in non-antisocial presentations of schizophrenia.