1. Early Trauma and Cognitive Functions of Patients With Schizophrenia
- Author
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Carolina G. Carrilho, Simone S. Cougo, Tatiane Bombassaro, André Augusto B. Varella, Gilberto S. Alves, Sergio Machado, Eric Murillo-Rodriguez, Dolores Malaspina, Antonio E. Nardi, and André B. Veras
- Subjects
cognition ,lcsh:RC435-571 ,memory ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,early trauma ,Visual memory ,lcsh:Psychiatry ,Medicine ,Association (psychology) ,Psychiatry ,Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale ,business.industry ,Correction ,Cognition ,medicine.disease ,attention ,030227 psychiatry ,Test (assessment) ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Schizophrenia ,Sample size determination ,business ,Psychosocial ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Clinical psychology - Abstract
Aim: The following work aims to investigate the putative correlation between early trauma and cognitive functions, as well as psychotic symptoms and cognitive functions, in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. Methods: A quantitative assessment was performed with 20 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia according to the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) criteria and who were in ongoing outpatient treatment in Psychosocial Care Centres in Brazil. Clinical measurements comprised a semistructured clinical interview, a screening questionnaire for common mental disorders, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and the Early Trauma Inventory Self-Report-Short Form (ETISR-SF). Cognitive assessment included Beta III test, Concentrated Attention (CA) test, Color Trails Test (CTT), and Visual Face Memory (VFM) test. Results: Age-adjusted analysis showed a negative correlation between early trauma and visual memory performance (r = -0.585, p = 0.007) and negative symptoms and attention performance (r = -0.715, p = 0.000). Conclusion: Although a cause-effect relationship cannot be firmly stated, an association between early trauma experience and cognitive impairment such as visual memory, as well as a relationship between negative symptoms and attention domains, is suggested by our preliminary findings. Future studies with larger sample sizes and prospective design will clarify the long-term effects of early exposure to trauma and its clinical meaning in terms of developing psychotic-related illness.
- Published
- 2019
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