Gender Differences in Social Cognition in Patients With Schizophrenia of Recent Diagnosis and Healthy Controls Subjects

January 29, 2018 updated by: Sol Fernandez-Gonzalo, Corporacion Parc Tauli

Individuals with schizophrenia have important and persistent deficits in multiple neurocognitive domains as well as in the Social Cognition (SC). SC refers to the mental operations underlying social behavior, and it is understood as a multidimensional construct that comprises emotional processing (EP), social perspective and knowledge, attributional bias and theory of mind (ToM) or mentalizing. Mentalizing and EP skills have been the two most studied subdomains of SC in schizophrenia. Both domains have been found to be impaired in chronic schizophrenia patients as well as in patients in early stages of the illness. In this context, although negative symptoms may play and important role, females seem to perform better than males in ToM and EP tasks, suggesting the presence of gender differences in the SC skills in patients with schizophrenia. However, to our knowledge, there are no studies that have explored the gender-related differences between cognitive and affective ToM and its relationship with the EP performance in schizophrenia patients of recent diagnosis comparing with healthy subjects.

In this line, the main objective of this project is to analyze the influence of gender in the cognitive and affective ToM abilities, in a group of patients with schizophrenia in early stages of the illness comparing with healthy subjects. Secondarily, this study pretends to explore the association between EP skills and affective ToM tasks performance in males and females with and without recent diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

50 patients (25 men and 25 women) will be recruited to participate in the study. Diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder will be obtained through the medical records of each patient, and confirmed with the administration of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) by an expert psychiatrist. The same professional will confirm the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and administrate and correct the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANNS) of all patients. An expert neuropsychologist will administrate and correct the the abbreviated form of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III) and the ToM and EP tasks.

In a second phase, a total of 50 healthy people (25 men and 25 women), matched according to age and years of schooling with the previous group, will be recruited. An expert neuropsychologist will confirm the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and administrate and correct the Vocabulary subtests of the WAIS-III and ToM and EP tasks.

All of them will be informed about the characteristics of the study before participating, and will sign an informed consent approved by the ethical committee of the hospital. The subjects will participate voluntarily.

4 groups ANOVAs will be performed for studying differences in affective and cognitive ToM between the groups (1-Women With Recent Diagnosis of Schizophrenia; 2-Men With Recent Diagnosis of Schizophrenia; 3-Healthy Women; 4-Healthy Men). Linear regression models will be performed for exploring the relationship between gender, negative symptoms (only in the schizophrenia sample) and EP (independents variables) in affective ToM (dependent variable).

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

80

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Spain
    • Barcelona
      • Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain, 08208
        • Corporació Parc Tauli

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 45 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Females and males with and without schizophrenia of recent diagnosis.

Description

PARTICIPANTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder with less than 5 years of evolution of the disorder.
  • Being an outpatient for at least 4 weeks before the study (clinical stability).
  • No changes in the antipsychotic medication during the month before the study.
  • Score less than 4 in the P1, P2 and P3 items of the PANSS.
  • Score less than 4 in the Calgary Depression Scale.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Intellectual disability (IQ<70).
  • History of brain damage.
  • History of substance abuse (except nicotine or caffeine) during the last 12 months before the study.

PARTICIPANTS WITHOUT SCHIZOPHRENIA

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy people over 18 years old.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Sensory impairment: visual or hearing disabilities.
  • Intellectual disability (IQ<70).
  • History of neurologic disease.
  • History of psychiatric disorder.
  • History of substance abuse (except nicotine or caffeine) during the last 12 months before the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Case-Control
  • Time Perspectives: Cross-Sectional

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Women schiz.
Women with recent diagnosis of schizophrenia
Other: GENDER
Men schiz.
Men with recent diagnosis of schizophrenia
Other: GENDER
Women healthy
Women without diagnosis of schizophrenia or other neurological and/or psychiatric diagnosis
Other: GENDER
Men healthy
Men without diagnosis of schizophrenia or other neurological and/or psychiatric diagnosis
Other: GENDER

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Affective Theory of Mind
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 6 months
Measured by: Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET)
Through study completion, an average of 6 months
Cognitive Theory of Mind
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 6 months
Measured by: False belief stories
Through study completion, an average of 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Emotional Processing
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 6 months
Measured by: Pictures of Facial Affect (POFA)
Through study completion, an average of 6 months
Psychosis Symptoms
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 6 months
Measured by: Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale
Through study completion, an average of 6 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) in schizophrenia groups
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 6 months
Measured by: The abbreviated form of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III) (Blyder et al., 2000)
Through study completion, an average of 6 months
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) in healthy groups
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 6 months
Measured by: The Vocabulary subtest (WAIS-III) in healthy participants.
Through study completion, an average of 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Corporacion Parc Tauli

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sol Fernandez-Gonzalo, PhD, Corporació Parc Tauli

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 8, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 13, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

October 14, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 31, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 29, 2018

Last Verified

January 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2015534

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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