Poor insight in schizophrenia: links between different forms of metacognition with awareness of symptoms, treatment need, and consequences of illness.

OBJECTIVE Many persons with schizophrenia experience poor insight or reflexive unawareness of the symptoms and consequences of their illness and, as a result, are at risk for treatment nonadherence and a range of negative outcomes. One recent theory regarding the origins of poor insight in schizophrenia has suggested that it may result, in part, from deficits in metacognitive capacity, or the ability to think about thinking, both one's own and the thinking of others. METHODS Participants were 65 adults with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder in a postacute phase of illness living in the community. For all participants, we obtained measures of three domains of metacognition, including self-reflectivity, mastery, and perspective taking, using the Metacognitive Assessment Scale and the hinting test and three domains of insight, which were awareness of symptoms, treatment need, and consequences of illness, using the Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder. Measures of neurocognition were also collected for potential use as covariates. RESULTS Univariate correlations followed by stepwise multiple regressions, which controlled for neurocognition, indicated that self-reflectivity was significantly linked with awareness of symptoms, mastery with treatment need, and mastery and perspective taking were linked with awareness of consequences of illness. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that metacognition may be linked to insight in persons with schizophrenia independent of concurrent impairments in neurocognition.