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The association between insight and depressive symptoms in schizophrenia: Undirected and Bayesian network analyses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2020

Mario Amore
Affiliation:
Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics sand Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
Martino Belvederi Murri*
Affiliation:
Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics sand Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy Department of Biomedical and Specialty Surgical Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
Pietro Calcagno
Affiliation:
Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics sand Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
Paola Rocca
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Alessandro Rossi
Affiliation:
Section of Psychiatry, Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy
Eugenio Aguglia
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Molecular Biomedicine, Psychiatry Unit, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
Antonello Bellomo
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
Giuseppe Blasi
Affiliation:
Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences, University of Bari, Bari, Italy
Bernardo Carpiniello
Affiliation:
Section of Psychiatry, Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
Alessandro Cuomo
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
Liliana dell’Osso
Affiliation:
Section of Psychiatry, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Massimo di Giannantonio
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, G. D’Annunzio University, Chieti, Italy
Giulia Maria Giordano
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
Carlo Marchesi
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatry Unit, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
Palmiero Monteleone
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry “Scuola Medica Salernitana” Section of Neuroscience, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy
Cristiana Montemagni
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Lucio Oldani
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
Maurizio Pompili
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, S. Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Rita Roncone
Affiliation:
Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy
Rodolfo Rossi
Affiliation:
Section of Psychiatry, Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy
Alberto Siracusano
Affiliation:
Department of Systems Medicine, Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology Unit, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Antonio Vita
Affiliation:
Psychiatric Unit, School of Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy Department of Mental Health, Spedali Civili Hospital, Brescia, Italy
Patrizia Zeppegno
Affiliation:
Department of Translational Medicine, Psychiatric Unit, University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara, Italy
Alessandro Corso
Affiliation:
Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics sand Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
Costanza Arzani
Affiliation:
Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics sand Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
Silvana Galderisi
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
Mario Maj
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy

Abstract

Background.

Greater levels of insight may be linked with depressive symptoms among patients with schizophrenia, however, it would be useful to characterize this association at symptom-level, in order to inform research on interventions.

Methods.

Data on depressive symptoms (Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia) and insight (G12 item from the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) were obtained from 921 community-dwelling, clinically-stable individuals with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia, recruited in a nationwide multicenter study. Network analysis was used to explore the most relevant connections between insight and depressive symptoms, including potential confounders in the model (neurocognitive and social-cognitive functioning, positive, negative and disorganization symptoms, extrapyramidal symptoms, hostility, internalized stigma, and perceived discrimination). Bayesian network analysis was used to estimate a directed acyclic graph (DAG) while investigating the most likely direction of the putative causal association between insight and depression.

Results.

After adjusting for confounders, better levels of insight were associated with greater self-depreciation, pathological guilt, morning depression and suicidal ideation. No difference in global network structure was detected for socioeconomic status, service engagement or illness severity. The DAG confirmed the presence of an association between greater insight and self-depreciation, suggesting the more probable causal direction was from insight to depressive symptoms.

Conclusions.

In schizophrenia, better levels of insight may cause self-depreciation and, possibly, other depressive symptoms. Person-centered and narrative psychotherapeutic approaches may be particularly fit to improve patient insight without dampening self-esteem.

Information

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association.
Figure 0

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Table 1. Sample characteristics (n = 921).

Figure 2

Figure 2.

Figure 3

Figure 3.

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