Counterfactual Reasoning in Non-psychotic First-Degree Relatives of People with Schizophrenia
Counterfactual thinking (CFT) is a type of conditional reasoning that enables the generation of mental simulations of alternatives to past factual events. Previous research has found this cognitive feature to be disrupted in schizophrenia. At the same time, the study of cognitive deficits in unaffec...
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doaj-18cb278f33de4486882220977ea86c3b2020-11-25T01:03:25ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782016-05-01710.3389/fpsyg.2016.00665202332Counterfactual Reasoning in Non-psychotic First-Degree Relatives of People with SchizophreniaAuria eAlbacete0Auria eAlbacete1Fernando eContreras Fernandez2Fernando eContreras Fernandez3Fernando eContreras Fernandez4Clara eBosque5Ester eGilabert6Ángela eAlbiach7Rosa eAyesa-Arriola8Jose M Menchon9Jose M Menchon10Jose M Menchon11Benedicto eCrespo-Facorro12University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELLUniversity of BarcelonaUniversity Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELLUniversity of BarcelonaCarlos III Health Institute, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red-CIBERFundació per a la Investigació i Docència María Angustias Giménez, Germanes HospitalàriesMental Health Unit L’Hospitalet, SAP Delta Llobregat. AP Costa de Ponent. Catalan Institute of HealthMental Health Unit L’Hospitalet, SAP Delta Llobregat. AP Costa de Ponent. Catalan Institute of HealthMarqués de Valdecilla University Hospital-IDIVALUniversity Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELLUniversity of BarcelonaCarlos III Health Institute, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red-CIBERMarqués de Valdecilla University Hospital-IDIVALCounterfactual thinking (CFT) is a type of conditional reasoning that enables the generation of mental simulations of alternatives to past factual events. Previous research has found this cognitive feature to be disrupted in schizophrenia. At the same time, the study of cognitive deficits in unaffected relatives of people with schizophrenia has significantly increased, supporting its potential endophenotypic role in this disorder. Using an exploratory approach, the current study examined CFT for the first time in a sample of non-psychotic first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients (N=43), in comparison with schizophrenia patients (N=54) and healthy controls (N=44). A series of tests that assessed the causal order effect in CFT and the ability to generate counterfactual thoughts and counterfactually derive inferences using the Counterfactual Inference Test was completed. Associations with variables of basic and social cognition, levels of schizotypy and psychotic-like experiences in addition to clinical and sociodemographic characteristics were also explored. Findings showed that first-degree relatives generated a lower number of counterfactual thoughts than controls, and were more adept at counterfactually deriving inferences, specifically in the scenarios related to regret and to judgements of avoidance in an unusual situation. No other significant results were found. These preliminary findings suggest that non-psychotic first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients show a subtle disruption of global counterfactual thinking compared with what is normally expected in the general population. Because of the potential impact of such deficits, new treatments targeting CFT improvement might be considered in future management strategies.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00665/fullSchizophreniareasoningendophenotypeCounterfactual thinkingfirst-degree relatives. |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Auria eAlbacete Auria eAlbacete Fernando eContreras Fernandez Fernando eContreras Fernandez Fernando eContreras Fernandez Clara eBosque Ester eGilabert Ángela eAlbiach Rosa eAyesa-Arriola Jose M Menchon Jose M Menchon Jose M Menchon Benedicto eCrespo-Facorro |
spellingShingle |
Auria eAlbacete Auria eAlbacete Fernando eContreras Fernandez Fernando eContreras Fernandez Fernando eContreras Fernandez Clara eBosque Ester eGilabert Ángela eAlbiach Rosa eAyesa-Arriola Jose M Menchon Jose M Menchon Jose M Menchon Benedicto eCrespo-Facorro Counterfactual Reasoning in Non-psychotic First-Degree Relatives of People with Schizophrenia Frontiers in Psychology Schizophrenia reasoning endophenotype Counterfactual thinking first-degree relatives. |
author_facet |
Auria eAlbacete Auria eAlbacete Fernando eContreras Fernandez Fernando eContreras Fernandez Fernando eContreras Fernandez Clara eBosque Ester eGilabert Ángela eAlbiach Rosa eAyesa-Arriola Jose M Menchon Jose M Menchon Jose M Menchon Benedicto eCrespo-Facorro |
author_sort |
Auria eAlbacete |
title |
Counterfactual Reasoning in Non-psychotic First-Degree Relatives of People with Schizophrenia |
title_short |
Counterfactual Reasoning in Non-psychotic First-Degree Relatives of People with Schizophrenia |
title_full |
Counterfactual Reasoning in Non-psychotic First-Degree Relatives of People with Schizophrenia |
title_fullStr |
Counterfactual Reasoning in Non-psychotic First-Degree Relatives of People with Schizophrenia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Counterfactual Reasoning in Non-psychotic First-Degree Relatives of People with Schizophrenia |
title_sort |
counterfactual reasoning in non-psychotic first-degree relatives of people with schizophrenia |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychology |
issn |
1664-1078 |
publishDate |
2016-05-01 |
description |
Counterfactual thinking (CFT) is a type of conditional reasoning that enables the generation of mental simulations of alternatives to past factual events. Previous research has found this cognitive feature to be disrupted in schizophrenia. At the same time, the study of cognitive deficits in unaffected relatives of people with schizophrenia has significantly increased, supporting its potential endophenotypic role in this disorder. Using an exploratory approach, the current study examined CFT for the first time in a sample of non-psychotic first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients (N=43), in comparison with schizophrenia patients (N=54) and healthy controls (N=44). A series of tests that assessed the causal order effect in CFT and the ability to generate counterfactual thoughts and counterfactually derive inferences using the Counterfactual Inference Test was completed. Associations with variables of basic and social cognition, levels of schizotypy and psychotic-like experiences in addition to clinical and sociodemographic characteristics were also explored. Findings showed that first-degree relatives generated a lower number of counterfactual thoughts than controls, and were more adept at counterfactually deriving inferences, specifically in the scenarios related to regret and to judgements of avoidance in an unusual situation. No other significant results were found. These preliminary findings suggest that non-psychotic first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients show a subtle disruption of global counterfactual thinking compared with what is normally expected in the general population. Because of the potential impact of such deficits, new treatments targeting CFT improvement might be considered in future management strategies. |
topic |
Schizophrenia reasoning endophenotype Counterfactual thinking first-degree relatives. |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00665/full |
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