The relationship between neurocognition and social cognition with functional outcomes in schizophrenia: A meta-analysis

• Published in: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 573 - 588
• Main Authors: Fett, Anne-Kathrin J., Viechtbauer, Wolfgang, Dominguez, Maria-de-Gracia, Penn, David L., van Os, Jim, Krabbendam, Lydia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition Disorders - etiology; Cognition Disorders - psychology; Community functioning; Functional outcome; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Medical sciences; Neurocognition; Neuropsychological Tests; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychoses; Psychosis; Quality of life; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - complications; Schizophrenic Psychology; Social Behavior; Social cognition; Psychosis; Schizophrenia; Community functioning; Neurocognition; Functional outcome; Quality of life; Social cognition; Social adjustment; Review; Metaanalysis
• ISSN: 0149-7634; 1873-7528; 1873-7528
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.07.001

▶ Social cognition is stronger related to community functioning than neurocognition. ▶ Theory of mind has the strongest associations with community functioning. ▶ The broad set of cognitive domains left ¾ of the variance in outcome unexplained. The current systematic review and meta-analysis provides an extended and comprehensive overview of the associations between neurocognitive and social cognitive functioning and different types of functional outcome. Literature searches were conducted in MEDLINE and PsycINFO and reference lists from identified articles to retrieve relevant studies on cross-sectional associations between neurocognition, social cognition and functional outcome in individuals with non-affective psychosis. Of 285 studies identified, 52 studies comprising 2692 subjects met all inclusion criteria. Pearson correlations between cognition and outcome, demographic data, sample sizes and potential moderator variables were extracted. Forty-eight independent meta-analyses, on associations between 12 a priori identified neurocognitive and social cognitive domains and 4 domains of functional outcome yielded a number of 25 significant mean correlations. Overall, social cognition was more strongly associated with community functioning than neurocognition, with the strongest associations being between theory of mind and functional outcomes. However, as three-quarters of variance in outcome were left unexplained, cognitive remediation approaches need to be combined with therapies targeting other factors impacting on outcome.