Subjective experience of social cognition in young people at Ultra-High Risk of psychosis: a 2-year longitudinal study

Purpose: Impairments in SC have been reported in people at Ultra-High Risk (UHR) of psychosis exclusively using neurocognitive tasks. The aims of this study are (1) to assess subjective experience of SC in adolescent and young adult community help-seekers identified through UHR criteria, (2) to explore significant associations of SC with psychopathology and functioning in UHR individuals; and (3) to monitor longitudinally the SC stability after a 2-year follow-up period. Methods: Participants (97 UHR, 141 First-Episode Psychosis [FEP], and 98 non-UHR/FEP), aged 13-35 years, completed the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States (CAARMS) and the GEOPTE scale of social cognition for psychosis. Within the UHR group, a multiple linear regression analysis (with GEOPTE scores as independent variables and CAARMS dimension subscores and treatment measures as dependent variables) was also performed across the 2-year longitudinal design. Results: In comparison with non-UHR/FEP, both UHR and FEP subjects showed significantly higher GEOPTE scores. Both after 12 and 24 months of follow-up, UHR individuals had a significant decrease in severity on GEOPTE SC subscore. In the UHR group, GEOPTE scores showed significant positive correlations with general psychopathology, positive and negative symptoms. Regression analysis showed a significant contribution of SC in predicting baseline social isolation, impaired role functioning, and general psychopathology. After 1 year of follow-up, improvement in SC was predicted by the number of psychotherapy sessions and lower doses of antipsychotics. Conclusions: SC deficits are prominent in UHR individuals and are similar in severity to those of FEP patients. However, they tend to decrease over time along with the delivery of targeted, specialized interventions for early psychosis.