Katarzyna Prochwicz

Cognitive biases mediate the relationship between temperament and character and psychotic-like experiences in healthy adults.

Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are frequently reported in the general population. Healthy individuals reporting PLEs have a similar personality profile to people with psychosis; however, the mechanisms by which personality influences PLEs are unclear. This study tests the hypothesis that cognitive biases mediate the relationship between two dimensions of personality (i.e. temperament and character) and positive and negative PLEs. Two hundred and ninety-six healthy participants were assessed using the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences scale, the Temperament and Character Inventory and the Davos Scale for Cognitive Biases. We performed multiple stepwise regression analysis and mediation analysis according to Baron and Kenny׳s method. Harm-avoidance and self-directedness personality dimensions significantly predicted PLEs frequency. High self-transcendence and lower cooperativeness predicted positive PLEs. Cognitive biases were significant mediators in relationships between temperament, character and both positive and negative PLEs. In particular, attention to threat and external attribution biases fully mediate the relationship between cooperativeness and positive PLEs. Other cognitive biases partially mediate the relationships between self-transcendence and positive PLEs and self-directedness, harm-avoidance and negative PLEs. Our study tentatively suggests that personality may influence PLEs via the cognitive bias pathway.

Are attentional bias and memory bias for negative words causally related

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESnIn cognitive theories of depression, processing biases are assumed to be partly responsible for the onset and maintenance of mood disorders. Despite a wealth of studies examining the relation between depression and individual biases (at the level of attention, interpretation, and memory), little is known about relationships between different biases. The purpose of the present study was to assess if attentional bias is causally related to memory bias.nnnMETHODSn71 participants were randomly assigned to a control (n = 37) or attentional training group (n = 34). The attentional manipulation was followed by an explicit, intentional memory task during which novel neutral, negative, and positive words were presented.nnnRESULTSnIt was found that individuals with elevated depression score trained to orient away from negative words did not display a memory bias for negative words (adjectives) whereas similar individuals displayed this memory bias in the control condition.nnnLIMITATIONnGeneralization of the findings is limited because of the short study time frame and specific nature of the memory task.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThese results indicate that altering attentional bias can influence elaborative processing of emotional material and that this bias could be one of the causes of mood congruent memory in depression.

A comparison of cognitive biases between schizophrenia patients with delusions and healthy individuals with delusion-like experiences

BACKGROUNDnThe role of psychosis-related cognitive biases (e.g. jumping to conclusions) in a delusion continuum is well-established. Little is known about the role of types of cognitive biases. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of psychosis-related and Beckian (i.e. anxiety- and depression-related) cognitive biases assessed with a clinical questionnaire in the delusion continuum and its dimensions.nnnMETHODSnSchizophrenia patients with (n=57) and without (n=35) delusions were compared to healthy subjects who had a low (n=53) and high (n=57) level of delusion-like experiences (DLEs) on the Cognitive Biases Questionnaire for Psychosis (CBQp). Delusion dimensions in the clinical sample were assessed with the semi-structured interview PSYRATS. DLEs were measured with the Peters Delusion Inventory (PDI).nnnRESULTSnHigh DLEs participants scored significantly higher than low DLEs, and patients with delusions scored higher than patients without delusions on the total scores of the CBQp. High DLEs participants scored significantly higher than low DLEs on catastrophisation and JTC. Schizophrenia patients with delusions scored significantly higher when compared to patients without delusions on intentionalising, dichotomous thinking, JTC and emotional reasoning. Patients with delusions and high DLEs participants scored similarly on JTC. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that catastrophising predicted total severity of clinical delusions and JTC predicted the cognitive dimension of clinical delusions. Both JTC and catastrophisation predicted the frequency and conviction associated with DLEs.nnnCONCLUSIONSnBoth Beckian and psychosis-related cognitive biases may underlie delusions. Different aspects of clinical delusions and delusion-like experiences may be related to different cognitive biases.

Interactions between variation in candidate genes and environmental factors in the etiology of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder : a systematic review

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BD) are complex and multidimensional disorders with high heritability rates. The contribution of genetic factors to the etiology of these disorders is increasingly being recognized as the action of multiple risk variants with small effect sizes, which might explain only a minor part of susceptibility. On the other site, numerous environmental factors have been found to play an important role in their causality. Therefore, in recent years, several studies focused on gene × environment interactions that are believed to bridge the gap between genetic underpinnings and environmental insults. In this article, we performed a systematic review of studies investigating gene × environment interactions in BD and schizophrenia spectrum phenotypes. In the majority of studies from this field, interacting effects of variation in genes encoding catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and FK506-binding protein 5 (FKBP5) have been explored. Almost consistently, these studies revealed that polymorphisms in COMT, BDNF, and FKBP5 genes might interact with early life stress and cannabis abuse or dependence, influencing various outcomes of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and BD. Other interactions still require further replication in larger clinical and non-clinical samples. In addition, future studies should address the direction of causality and potential mechanisms of the relationship between gene × environment interactions and various categories of outcomes in schizophrenia and BD.

The role of self-disturbances and cognitive biases in the relationship between traumatic life events and psychosis proneness in a non-clinical sample

BACKGROUNDnTraumatic life events have been established as an environmental risk factor for psychosis. However, the exact mechanisms by which traumatic life events increase risk for psychosis are unknown. In the present study we tested an integrative model of traumatic life events being related to psychosis proneness via self-disturbances and cognitive biases.nnnMETHODSnThe sample consisted of 653 healthy people. Traumatic life events, self-disturbances, cognitive biases and psychosis proneness were assessed with self-report questionnaires. The direct and an indirect model of the relationship between traumatic life events and psychosis proneness were compared using path analyses with structural equation modelling in a cross-sectional study.nnnRESULTSnThere was a significant direct effect of traumatic life events on psychosis proneness. However, path analysis suggested better fit of the indirect model including paths from trauma to psychosis proneness via cognitive biases and self-disturbances. There were significant paths from traumatic life events to cognitive biases and self-disorders. Self-disorders significantly predicted cognitive biases. Finally, cognitive biases and self-disorders significantly predicted psychosis proneness. Exclusion of any paths, apart from direct path in the model, significantly reduced model fitness.nnnDISCUSSIONnThe results revealed that a direct relationship between trauma and psychosis proneness became insignificant when taking into account the influence of self-disorders and cognitive biases. This suggests that the interactions between disrupted self-experience, impaired information processing and traumatic life events are of importance in psychosis proneness. This model should be further tested in a longitudinal study on a clinical sample.

Skin picking in a non-clinical sample of young Polish adults. Prevalence and characteristics

INTRODUCTIONnThe aim of the study was to examine the prevalence and characteristics of skin picking behaviors in a sample of young Polish adults.nnnMETHODSnFive hundred and thirty-four participants completed measurements of skin picking frequency and severity. They also retrospectively rated the intensity of affective states experienced before, during and after skin picking episodes.nnnRESULTSnIn total, 46.07% of the participants endorsed some forms of skin picking, and the prevalence of skin picking disorder (SPD) in the study sample amounted to 7.67%. The characteristics of skin picking episodes in young Polish adults were similar to those reported in previous studies conducted on different cultures. The results also showed that for the majority of individuals with skin picking, the intensity of particular emotions (i.e. fear, anxiety, guilt, shame, self-aversion, boredom, and sadness) decreased significantly in the period from before to after picking.nnnCONCLUSIONnLarger community studies are needed to assess the SPD prevalence in Polish general population.

Attentional focus moderates the relationship between attention to threat bias and delusion-like experiences in healthy adults

BACKGROUNDnThe role of cognitive biases in delusion and delusion-like experiences has been widely investigated in recent years. However, little is known about individual differences, which may influence association between cognitive biases and formation of delusional beliefs. The aim of this study was to examine the moderating effect of self-reported attentional control on the relationship between attention to threat bias (ATB) and delusion-like experiences (DLEs) in healthy adults.nnnMETHODSnParticipants (n=138) completed the Davos Assessment of the Cognitive Biases Scale (DACOBS), the Attentional Control Scale (ACS) and the Peters et al. Delusions Inventory (PDI). The moderation analysis was performed to check the influence of different components of attentional control (i.e. general ability to allocate attention, focusing, shifting and divide attention) on the interplay between ATB and DLEs.nnnRESULTSnThe results supported the moderation model. Specifically, we found that a higher level of ability to focus attention is associated with a stronger effect of attention to threat bias on the overall frequency of DLEs. Our results indicate that ATB contributes to the number of DLEs only in individuals with high and moderate capacity to focus attention, whereas in those who scored low on the ACS focusing attention subscale, the presence of attentional bias does not influence the frequency of DLEs.nnnCONCLUSIONSnOur findings show that the individual difference variable, such as ability to voluntarily focus attention, may moderate the relationship between attention to threat bias and delusion-like experiences in healthy adults.

“Cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome CCAS – a case report”

Anna Starowicz-Filip1, Olga Milczarek2, Stanislaw Kwiatkowski2 , Barbara Betkowska-Korpala1, Katarzyna Prochwicz3: 1Medical Psychology Department, Psychiatry, Jagiellonian University Medical College; 2Neurosurgery Ward, Children’s University Hospital in Cracow; 3Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University. Correspondence address: starow@poczta.onet.pl Cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome CCAS – a case report

Self-disturbances, cognitive biases and insecure attachment as mechanisms of the relationship between traumatic life events and psychotic-like experiences in non-clinical adults - A path analysis

Although traumatic life events have been linked to psychotic-like experiences, the mechanisms of the relationship remain unclear. We investigated whether insecure (anxious and avoidant) attachment styles, cognitive biases and self-disturbances serve as significant mediators in the relationship between traumatic life events and psychotic-like experiences in non-clinical sample. Six-hundred and ninety healthy participants (522 females) who have not ever been diagnosed with psychiatric disorders took part in the study. Participants completed self-report scales that measure traumatic life events, psychotic-like experiences, cognitive biases, attachment styles and self-disturbances. Our model was tested with path analysis. Our integrated model fit to the data with excellent goodness-of-fit indices. The direct effect was significantly reduced after the mediators were included. Significant pathways from traumatic life events to psychotic-like experiences were found through self-disturbances and cognitive biases. Traumatic life events were associated with anxious attachment through cognitive biases. Self-disturbances, cognitive biases and anxious attachment had a direct effect on psychotic-like experiences. The results of our study tentatively suggest that traumatic life events are related with psychotic-like experiences through cognitive biases and self-disturbances. Further studies in clinical samples are required to verify our model.

Self-reported cognitive distortions in the psychosis continuum: A Polish 18-item version of the Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale (DACOBS-18)

AIMnThe aim of this study was to provide a short version of the Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale (DACOBS), which is a self-report tool to assess cognitive distortions related to psychosis.nnnMETHODSnA principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted on a large non-clinical sample (n=1207) and cross-validated with a confirmatory factor analysis on an independent non-clinical sample (n=653). Discriminative validity was performed by contrasting the high risk for psychosis non-clinical sample (n=63), low risk for psychosis non-clinical sample (n=152), patients with schizophrenia (n=105), and patients with depression (n=56). Correlations between symptoms, cognitive functions, source monitoring deficits, and jumping to conclusions were performed among a subgroup of patients with schizophrenia.nnnRESULTSnAn 18-item scale (DACOBS-18) with a four-factor solution was established. Internal consistency (α=0.84) and test-retest reliability (r=0.84, p<0.001) were good. The DACOBS-18 has satisfactory discriminative power, with 99.1% sensitivity and 74.3% specificity in discriminating low risk for psychosis from schizophrenia patients. The DACOBS-18 subscales correlate significantly with psychotic symptoms and psychotic-like experiences. After Bonferroni correction, significant correlations between Safety Behaviors and neuropsychological functioning were found.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThe DACOBS-18 is a reliable scale with satisfactory discriminative power and thus may be a valuable self-report screening tool for use in everyday clinical practice with psychotic patients and with people at risk for psychosis. Further research on its relationship to objective cognitive measures is needed.