The relationship of insight to psychopathology in schizophrenia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Insight plays an important role in the management of Schizophrenia. The study was undertaken to assess the cross-sectional relationship of clinical variables and psychopathology to insight, using the BPRS and the Insight Schedule. The study sample consisted of 59ICD-10 Schizophrenics with a mean duration of illness of 41.88 months. Insight was found to have significant positive association with number of previous episodes of illness and treatment taken in the past. The correlation matrix of BPRS total score with Insight Schedule item scores revealed non significant negative correlations. On multiple regression analysis, psychopathology was found to explain significantly about a third of the variability in insight, thus demonstrating only partial dependence of insight on psychopathology. Construct analysis of the Insight Schedule was undertaken in parallel to the main study and revealed a component structure similar to that espoused by its author, ensuring comparability between the present and previous studies.

Keywords: insight; psychopathology; schizophrenia.