A meta-analysis of emotion perception and functional outcomes in schizophrenia

Emotion perception (EP) is impaired in schizophrenia, is stable across clinical state, resistant to antipsychotic treatment and linked to symptom severity. Given its pervasive nature, there is a need to quantitatively examine whether this dysfunction impacts functional outcomes. We used a meta-analytic strategy to combine results from several studies and examine synthesized effect sizes.

A Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology standard was used to extract data following a PubMed and PsychInfo search. Studies reporting correlations between measures of EP and functional outcomes in schizophrenia spectrum disorders were selected. The impact of potential methodological (task type), demographic (sex, age, race, education, marital status) and clinical (age of onset, duration of illness, setting, symptoms, anti-psychotic medication) moderators on effect sizes were examined.

Twenty-five studies met inclusion criteria and included 1306 patients who were 37 years old, with 12 years of education, 64% male and 63% Caucasian. There was a significant relationship between EP and functional outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, with effect sizes in the medium range. Medium to large range positive correlations were observed between emotion identification and functional outcome domains involving social problem solving, social skills and community functioning. Significant moderators included task type (emotion identification tasks), sex (% male in sample), race (% Caucasian in sample) and clinical symptoms (negative and positive).

Emotion identification deficits are associated with functional impairments in schizophrenia and moderated by sex, race and symptoms. This has implications for treatment efforts to improve outcomes.