Social cognition in young adults who have a first-degree relative with schizophrenia: A preliminary case series study

Social-cognitive impairments in schizophrenia are markers that precede the illness and are present in first-degree relatives of patients. Adolescence and young adulthood are peak ages of risk for the onset of schizophrenia and are important windows to observe impairments that could signify the transition to schizophrenia. To explore these risk markers, this case series study described the social-cognitive profiles of young adults at familial high-risk (FHR) and investigated their relation to symptoms of schizophrenia and schizotypy. In this study, 13 controls and 4 participants at FHR completed assessments measuring symptoms, schizotypy, emotion regulation and recognition, theory of mind, and attributional style. Participants at FHR recognized fewer sad faces than controls but did not show other impairments. Furthermore, greater symptoms and schizotypy were associated with worse performance on some social-cognitive domains. Further investigation with larger samples is needed to explore if difficulty recognizing negative emotions is a risk marker for schizophrenia.