Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026

Development of a Virtual Reality Assessment of Everyday Living Skills
Published on: April 23, 2014
Insight in stable schizophrenia: relations with psychopathology and cognition
Cinzia Mingrone1, Paola Rocca, Filomena Castagna
1Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatric Section, University of Turin, Via Cherasco 11, 10126 Turin, Italy.
Objective:
This study evaluated the relationship among insight, sociodemographic and clinical variables, symptoms and cognitive functions in a population of outpatients with stable schizophrenia, in order to identify possible contributing factors to awareness.
Method:
Two-hundred and seventy-six consecutive outpatients with stable schizophrenia were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. All subjects were assessed by psychiatric scales and interview, and a wide neuropsychological battery. A factor analysis was performed to identify cognitive factors and multiple regression analyses were executed to test the contribution of variables considered to insight.
Results:
Our results showed that positive and negative symptoms, executive functions, verbal memory-learning were contributors of awareness of mental illness; positive and negative symptoms explained variability in awareness of the need for treatment; positive symptoms and executive functions contributed to awareness of the social consequences of disorder.
Conclusions:
These results suggested that insight was partially influenced by positive and negative symptoms and by cognitive functions. A complex system of overlapping variables may underlie impaired insight, contributing to a different extent to specific dimensions of poor insight in patients with stable schizophrenia.
Related Concept Videos
Psychosis: Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
Researchers have identified genetic factors that increase susceptibility to schizophrenia, underscoring the intricate interplay between genetics and environment in disease development. At the core of schizophrenia's pathophysiology is excessive dopaminergic neurotransmission within the...
Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Negative and Cognitive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Negative Symptoms
Negative symptoms of schizophrenia manifest as deficits in normal emotional and behavioral functioning, profoundly impacting daily life. Individuals with schizophrenia often display a flat affect, characterized by a near-total absence of emotional expression,...
Positive Symptoms Schizophrenia: Hallucinations and Delusions
Hallucinations
Hallucinations in...
Biological Causes of Schizophrenia
Genetic Factors in Schizophrenia
The genetic basis of schizophrenia is strongly supported by family and twin studies.

