Significant deficits in social cognition were found in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs), but not in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), Dr. George C. Nitzburg and his associates reported.
In a study of 537 SSD patients, 85 BD patients with psychotic features, 37 BD patients without psychotic features, and 309 controls, SSD patients had significant social cognition deficits, compared with controls. Bipolar patients did not have these deficits, the investigators reported (F (2,964) = 24.85, P < .001). Social cognition was assessed using scores on the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT).
The results of this study “highlight the importance of developing standardized social-cognitive batteries for use across BD and SSD and emphasize the need for future work on social brain development in clinical populations,” Dr. Nitzburg and his coauthors wrote in the report.
Read the full article here: doi:10.1016/j.scog.2014.12.003.