Assessing social-cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.

描述（由申请人提供）：精神分裂症的功能评估已成为最近NIMH的优先事项（PA-05-037）。与疾病相关的认知缺陷是限制功能恢复的潜在重要因素。研究表明，社会认知的缺陷可能对功能结果特别重要。不幸的是，可靠和有效的社会认知评估很少。本研究的广泛目标是通过检查一种有前途的社会认知措施，为阐明精神分裂症中社会认知缺陷的功能意义以及这些缺陷作为未来精神分裂症治疗的具体目标的相关性做出贡献。具体而言，该项目建议进行初步调查的使用迈耶-萨洛维-卡鲁索情绪智力测试（MSCEIT），一个有前途的能力为基础的情绪智力的措施（也包括在NIMH-MATRICS电池），用于评估社会认知精神分裂症。这将通过利用正在进行的认知增强治疗试验的纵向数据来估计MSCEIT应用于精神分裂症患者的可靠性、有效性和对功能结局的纵向贡献来实现。研究结果将用于提出一个系统的研究计划，对MSCEIT进行更全面的验证，并启动治疗方法的开发，以弥补该工具所显示的对功能结果有直接影响的社会认知缺陷。这项研究的结果有可能通过指出社会认知缺陷对精神分裂症患者社会和功能障碍的重要性，并对测量这些缺陷的有前途的工具进行初步系统评价，从而做出重要的公共卫生贡献。这些结果将用于促进正在进行的科学努力，以了解精神分裂症功能障碍的认知相关性，并制定有针对性的治疗策略，以改善这一人群的社会和行为结果。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Functional assessment in schizophrenia has become a recent NIMH priority (PA-05-037). The cognitive deficits associated with the illness are potentially important factors limiting functional recovery from the disorder. Research has suggested that deficits in social cognition may be particularly important to functional outcome. Unfortunately, reliable and valid social-cognitive assessments are sparse. The broad goal of this research is to contribute to the ongoing efforts of elucidating the functional significance of social-cognitive deficits in schizophrenia and the relevance of such deficits as specific targets for future schizophrenia treatments, through the examination of a promising measure of social cognition. Specifically, this project proposes to conduct a preliminary investigation on the use of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), a promising ability-based measure of emotional intelligence (and also included in the NIMH-MATRICS battery), for assessing social cognition in schizophrenia. This will be accomplished by utilizing longitudinal data from an ongoing trial of Cognitive Enhancement Therapy to estimate the reliability, validity, and longitudinal contribution to functional outcome of the MSCEIT as applied to individuals with schizophrenia. Results will be used to propose a systematic plan of research to conduct a more comprehensive validation of the MSCEIT and initiate the development of treatments to remediate social-cognitive deficits evinced by this instrument that have direct bearing on functional outcome. The results of this research have the potential to make an important public health contribution by pointing to the importance of social-cognitive deficits to social and functional disability in schizophrenia, and providing a preliminary systematic evaluation of a promising instrument to measure these deficits. These results will be used to contribute to ongoing scientific efforts to understand the cognitive correlates of functional disability in schizophrenia and develop targeted treatment strategies to improve social and behavioral outcomes among this population.