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BACKGROUND: Information provided by patients with schizophrenia and their respective carers is used to study the descriptive psychopathology and neuropsychology of formal thought disorder (FTD). SAMPLING AND METHODS: Relatively intellectually preserved schizophrenia patients (n = 31) exhibiting from no to severe positive FTD completed a self-report scale of FTD, a scale of insight as well as several tests of executive and semantic function. The patients' carers completed another scale of FTD to assess the patients' speech. RESULTS: FTD as self-reported by patients was significantly associated with the synonyms test performance and severity of the reality distortion dimension. FTD as assessed by a clinician and by the patients' carers was significantly associated with executive test performance and performance in a test of associative semantics. Overall insight was significantly associated with severity of the reality distortion dimension and graded naming test performance, but was not associated with self-reported FTD or severity of FTD as assessed by the clinician or carers. CONCLUSIONS: The self-reported experience of FTD has different clinical and neuropsychological correlates from those of FTD as assessed by clinicians and carers. The assessment of FTD by patients and carers used along with the clinician's assessment may further the study of this group of symptoms.

Original publication

DOI

10.1159/000224150

Type

Journal article

Journal

Psychopathology

Publication Date

2009

Volume

42

Pages

264 - 269

Keywords

Adult, Awareness, Cognition Disorders, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Nonverbal Communication, Perceptual Distortion, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Psychometrics, Reality Testing, Schizophrenia, Schizophrenic Language, Schizophrenic Psychology, Speech Perception, Young Adult