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Communicative-pragmatic abilities mediate the relationship between cognition and daily functioning in schizophrenia
Giulia Agostoni1, Valentina Bambini2, Margherita Bechi3
1School of Psychology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University.
Neuropsychology
|January 4, 2021
Summary
Pragmatics, the ability to understand conversational meaning, significantly impacts daily functioning in schizophrenia. This study highlights its crucial role alongside theory of mind in improving daily activities for individuals with schizophrenia.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Schizophrenia significantly impairs daily functioning.
- Current neurocognitive models often overlook the role of pragmatics.
- Understanding communicative-pragmatic abilities is key to improving functioning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of communicative-pragmatic abilities in daily functioning among individuals with schizophrenia.
- To examine pragmatics as a mediator between cognition and functioning.
- To enrich neurocognitive models of functioning by including pragmatic abilities.
Main Methods:
- Assessed 100 individuals with schizophrenia on functioning, cognition, theory of mind (ToM), and pragmatics.
- Utilized mediation analysis to test the predictive effects of cognition on functioning, mediated by ToM and pragmatics.
- Explored the impact of cognition, sequentially mediated by ToM and pragmatics, on specific functional domains.
Main Results:
- Theory of Mind (ToM) was confirmed as a mediator between cognition and functioning.
- Pragmatics emerged as a significant mediator, both directly and indirectly, influencing overall functioning.
- Pragmatics was strongly linked to interpersonal functioning, while ToM related to personal autonomy.
Conclusions:
- Pragmatics plays a pivotal role in affecting daily functioning in schizophrenia, impacting various domains.
- The findings underscore the importance of pragmatic abilities in interpersonal functioning.
- This research highlights the need to incorporate pragmatics into neurocognitive models for schizophrenia treatment.
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