Patterns of neurocognitive dysfunction and personality traits in families with schizophrenia

Two homogeneous schizophrenia subtypes, each featuring a specific configuration of neurocognitive performance, neurobehavioural anomalies and selected personality measures, were identified in our previous study. The first, “ Cognitive Deficit” (CD) type, comprising patients and a small number of unaffected relatives (n = 76), displayed pervasive deficit on almost all neurocognitive measures. Family members assigned to the remaining types (n = 312) were close to controls on neurocognitive measures but showed significantly deviant scores on temperament and character scales and three dimensions of schizotypy, and were pooled into Non-CD type. We examined whether specific profiles of personality were related to schizotypal dimensions and, once the relationship was confirmed, whether such a link was invariant across both groups. Additionally, this link was also investigated in a sample of healthy community controls (n = 143). Simple mean scores on personality scales and schizotypy factors were generally uninformative, with relatives of schizophrenia patients having virtually identical scores on almost all scales as control subjects. However, distinct associations between structure of personality traits (temperament and character) and schizotypal factors emerged in the two schizophrenia subtypes. Whereas reduced cognitive efficiency in CD patients was primarily reflected in negative symptomatology, dysfunctional cognitive control could be responsible for more prominent positive symptoms in Non-CD patients, their clinically unaffected relatives, and controls.