Insight into schizophrenia and its relationship to affective, cognitive and psychopathological variables

Research into insight has come to the conclusion that this is a multidimensional variable, associated with other variables such as psychotic symptoms, cognitive impairment, and depression. In this study, which was performed on a sample of 136 subjects who were diagnosed with schizophrenia, the authors planned to reproduce a previous study in which the existence of two factors related to insight were established: a psychotic factor, and a cognitive factor. The psychotic factor refers to a general knowledge of the illness, which correlates with psychotic symptoms. The cognitive factor refers to a broader and more specific understanding of the illness, and it requires the preservation of certain cognitive areas. The study also states the need to study the relationship between the different dimensions of insight and variables such as depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. The results support the presence of both factors. The psychotic factor was associated with depression and anxiety, whereas the cognitive factor was not. The therapeutic implications of these results are discussed.