Social cognitive functioning in prodromal psychosis: A meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Social cognitive deficits are a known feature of schizophrenia, potentially serving as a trait marker.
• A detailed analysis of social cognition across specific domains in individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis was previously lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct the first quantitative, domain-by-domain meta-analysis of social cognitive performance in individuals at CHR for psychosis.
• To identify specific domains of social cognition most affected in the CHR population.

Main Methods:

• A systematic search of electronic databases was performed for relevant studies.
• Social cognitive domains assessed included theory of mind (ToM), social perception (SP), attributional bias (AB), and emotion processing (EP), based on NIMH's SCOPE initiative.
• Twenty studies comprising 1229 CHR individuals and 825 healthy controls were included.

Main Results:

• Overall medium effect size for social cognition deficits in CHR individuals (g=-0.477).
• Largest effect size observed for attributional bias (AB) (g=-0.708).
• Medium effect sizes for emotion processing (EP) (g=-0.446) and theory of mind (ToM) (g=-0.425), with small effects for social perception (SP) (g=-0.383).

Conclusions:

• Individuals at CHR exhibit significant impairments across all assessed social cognitive domains compared to healthy controls.
• Attributional bias represents the most pronounced social cognitive deficit in this at-risk group.
• Further longitudinal research is needed to identify specific social cognitive markers predicting psychosis conversion.