Social cognition and paranoia in forensic inpatients with schizophrenia: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: People diagnosed with schizophrenia have difficulties in emotion recognition and theory of mind, and these may contribute to paranoia. The aim of this study was to determine whether this relationship is evident in patients residing in a secure forensic setting.

METHOD: Twenty-seven male participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and a history of offending behaviour were assessed using The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT), The Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire (AIHQ) and The Green et al. Paranoid Thought Scales (G-PTS). Individuals were recruited from two medium secure and one high secure forensic hospital in Scotland.

RESULTS: Correlation, logistic and multiple regression analyses did not find that emotion recognition and theory of mind were associated with indices of paranoid thinking.

CONCLUSION: Social cognition did not appear to be related to indices of paranoia in this forensic sample. Although participants reported low levels of paranoia overall, the results are consistent with recent conclusions that theory of mind impairments are not specifically linked to paranoia in people diagnosed with schizophrenia.