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. 2022 Oct;272(7):1169-1181.
doi: 10.1007/s00406-022-01438-0. Epub 2022 Jul 8.

Males and females with first episode psychosis present distinct profiles of social cognition and metacognition

M Ferrer-Quintero  1   2   3 , D Fernández  4   5   6   7   8 , R López-Carrilero  4   5   6 , I Birulés  4   9 , A Barajas  10   11 , E Lorente-Rovira  5   12 , A Luengo  12 , L Díaz-Cutraro  4   13 , M Verdaguer  4   10   14 , H García-Mieres  4   5 , A Gutiérrez-Zotes  5   15 , E Grasa  5   16 , E Pousa  5   16   17   18 , E Huerta-Ramos  4   5 , T Pélaez  4   5 , M L Barrigón  19   20 , J Gómez-Benito  9   21 , F González-Higueras  22 , I Ruiz-Delgado  23 , J Cid  24 , S Moritz  25 , J Sevilla-Llewellyn-Jones  26 ; Spanish Metacognition Group; S Ochoa  4   5
Collaborators, Affiliations

Males and females with first episode psychosis present distinct profiles of social cognition and metacognition

M Ferrer-Quintero et al. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

Deficits in social cognition and metacognition impact the course of psychosis. Sex differences in social cognition and metacognition could explain heterogeneity in psychosis. 174 (58 females) patients with first-episode psychosis completed a clinical, neuropsychological, social cognitive, and metacognitive assessment. Subsequent latent profile analysis split by sex yielded two clusters common to both sexes (a Homogeneous group, 53% and 79.3%, and an Indecisive group, 18.3% and 8.6% of males and females, respectively), a specific male profile characterized by presenting jumping to conclusions (28.7%) and a specific female profile characterized by cognitive biases (12.1%). Males and females in the homogeneous profile seem to have a more benign course of illness. Males with jumping to conclusions had more clinical symptoms and more neuropsychological deficits. Females with cognitive biases were younger and had lower self-esteem. These results suggest that males and females may benefit from specific targeted treatment and highlights the need to consider sex when planning interventions.

Keywords: Metacognition; Profiles; Psychosis; Schizophrenia; Sex differences; Social cognition.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Profiles of each group in the male sample with standardized means in each of the variables included in the LPA. Group 1 refers to the JTC profile. Group 2 refers to the Indecisive profile. Group 3 refers to the Homogeneous profile
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Profiles of each group in the female sample with standardized means in each of the variables included in the LPA. Group 1 refers to the Homogeneous profile. Group 2 refers to the Indecisive profile. Group 3 refers to the Cognitive Biases profile
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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