The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes to medication in relation to insight, purp... more The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes to medication in relation to insight, purpose in life, symptoms and sociodemographic factors among a cohort of stable patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. We included 70 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder attending a Dublin suburban mental health service. All participants were 18 years or older and were excluded if they had a learning disability, acquired brain injury resulting in unconsciousness, and psychosis secondary to a general medical condition or illicit substance misuse. All participants were given self report questionnaires which included Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-30), Birchwood Insight Scale, and Purpose in Life test. Symptoms were assessed using the Scale for Assessment of Positive and Negative symptoms. All data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. We found that 86% (n = 60) of the participants had positive att...
An association between deficits in executive control, particularly inhibitory control, and more s... more An association between deficits in executive control, particularly inhibitory control, and more severe negative and disorganised symptoms of schizophrenia has been widely reported. The importance of more basic aspects of attention, often referred to as 'vigilant' or 'sustained' attention, to this relationship remains unclear. This study examined the contribution of sustained attention to symptom severity using the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) in 69 patients with schizophrenia. We found that negative and disorganised symptom severity scores were correlated with sustained attention, working memory, and psychomotor speed. The ability to sustain attention significantly predicted variance in negative symptom severity but not disorganised symptoms, which were instead predicted by working memory performance. These data suggest that this component of attention at least partly explains variance in negative symptoms.
Attributional style is defined as the pervasive tendency to explain the cause of social actions i... more Attributional style is defined as the pervasive tendency to explain the cause of social actions in terms of oneself, or others, or the context of the event. While the clinical correlates of this aspect of social cognition have been widely researched, its links with relationship style and neuropsychological performance, although hypothesised, have received less attention. This study investigated whether attributional style is predicted by variance in either relationship style or neuropsychological performance in schizophrenia. We assessed attributional style (using the Internal, Personal and Situational Attributions Questionnaire [IPSAQ]), relationship style (using Bartholomew and Horowitz's Relationship Questionnaire), and neuropsychological function (using the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, the Wechsler Memory Test, and the Cambridge Automated Test Battery) in 73 stabilised outpatients with chronic schizophrenia and 78 controls matched for age and gender. 'Externalising bias' (attributing positive rather than negative events to oneself) was predicted by verbal ability in both patients and controls. 'Personalising bias' (attributing negative events to others rather than to situational factors) was predicted by higher secure relationship style ratings, but only in the patient group. This study highlights the importance of relationship style and neuropsychological performance for different aspects of attributional style in schizophrenia.
The past decade has witnessed increased interest in the visual search behaviour of athletes. Litt... more The past decade has witnessed increased interest in the visual search behaviour of athletes. Little is known, however, about the relationship between anxiety and eye movements in sport performers or about the extent to which athletes' planned and actual visual search strategies correspond. To address these issues, we conducted two studies. In Study 1, eight expert female gymnasts were presented with three digital slides of a model performing a skill that is known to be anxiety-provoking in this sport--namely, the 'back flip' on the beam. By varying the height of the beam and the presence or absence of safety mats, the slides differed in the amount of anxiety that they elicited vicariously in the viewer. In the study, the gymnasts were asked to imagine themselves in the position of the depicted model and to describe the anxiety that they felt. As they viewed the slides, their eye movements were recorded. As predicted, anxiety was associated with an increase in the number of fixations to peripheral areas. In addition, the more 'threatening' slides elicited significantly more fixations than the less feared images. In Study 2, the plans of 15 equestrian performers (5 expert, 5 intermediate and 5 novice) were elicited as they engaged in a virtual 'walk' around a computerized show-jumping course. Contrary to expectations, the congruence between intended and actual search behaviour was not significantly greater for expert riders than for the less skilled groups. Also, the fact that the top riders allocated more fixations to slides than the less skilled performers challenged the prediction that expertise would be associated with economy of visual search. Finally, as expected, the expert riders were significantly less dependent on the overall 'course plan' than the intermediate and novice equestrian performers when inspecting the fences.
Although General Practitioners (GPs) have a pivotal role in early detection and treatment of psyc... more Although General Practitioners (GPs) have a pivotal role in early detection and treatment of psychosis, there is sparse information on their views of early intervention (EI) services and how information related to EI should be delivered. Since inception, DETECT (Dublin East Treatment and Early Care Team), Ireland's pilot EI project, mailed information packs and provided information through the local GP continuing medical education (CME) network. After 1 year, we surveyed GPs within DETECT's catchment area for their views on the service being provided. One hundred and twenty-six (36%) responded and 80% found the EI service very/extremely useful. GPs reported that the combination of CME session and information packs were more useful than information packs alone. Those who attended CME meetings were significantly more likely to refer suspected cases (P < 0.01) and more likely to find the service useful (P < 0.001). The EI service for psychosis is well-received among GPs. Information about EI delivered through CME appears to have a greater impact on referral rates and satisfaction levels than mailed information.
The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes to medication in relation to insight, purp... more The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes to medication in relation to insight, purpose in life, symptoms and sociodemographic factors among a cohort of stable patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. We included 70 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder attending a Dublin suburban mental health service. All participants were 18 years or older and were excluded if they had a learning disability, acquired brain injury resulting in unconsciousness, and psychosis secondary to a general medical condition or illicit substance misuse. All participants were given self report questionnaires which included Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-30), Birchwood Insight Scale, and Purpose in Life test. Symptoms were assessed using the Scale for Assessment of Positive and Negative symptoms. All data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. We found that 86% (n = 60) of the participants had positive att...
An association between deficits in executive control, particularly inhibitory control, and more s... more An association between deficits in executive control, particularly inhibitory control, and more severe negative and disorganised symptoms of schizophrenia has been widely reported. The importance of more basic aspects of attention, often referred to as 'vigilant' or 'sustained' attention, to this relationship remains unclear. This study examined the contribution of sustained attention to symptom severity using the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) in 69 patients with schizophrenia. We found that negative and disorganised symptom severity scores were correlated with sustained attention, working memory, and psychomotor speed. The ability to sustain attention significantly predicted variance in negative symptom severity but not disorganised symptoms, which were instead predicted by working memory performance. These data suggest that this component of attention at least partly explains variance in negative symptoms.
Attributional style is defined as the pervasive tendency to explain the cause of social actions i... more Attributional style is defined as the pervasive tendency to explain the cause of social actions in terms of oneself, or others, or the context of the event. While the clinical correlates of this aspect of social cognition have been widely researched, its links with relationship style and neuropsychological performance, although hypothesised, have received less attention. This study investigated whether attributional style is predicted by variance in either relationship style or neuropsychological performance in schizophrenia. We assessed attributional style (using the Internal, Personal and Situational Attributions Questionnaire [IPSAQ]), relationship style (using Bartholomew and Horowitz's Relationship Questionnaire), and neuropsychological function (using the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, the Wechsler Memory Test, and the Cambridge Automated Test Battery) in 73 stabilised outpatients with chronic schizophrenia and 78 controls matched for age and gender. 'Externalising bias' (attributing positive rather than negative events to oneself) was predicted by verbal ability in both patients and controls. 'Personalising bias' (attributing negative events to others rather than to situational factors) was predicted by higher secure relationship style ratings, but only in the patient group. This study highlights the importance of relationship style and neuropsychological performance for different aspects of attributional style in schizophrenia.
The past decade has witnessed increased interest in the visual search behaviour of athletes. Litt... more The past decade has witnessed increased interest in the visual search behaviour of athletes. Little is known, however, about the relationship between anxiety and eye movements in sport performers or about the extent to which athletes' planned and actual visual search strategies correspond. To address these issues, we conducted two studies. In Study 1, eight expert female gymnasts were presented with three digital slides of a model performing a skill that is known to be anxiety-provoking in this sport--namely, the 'back flip' on the beam. By varying the height of the beam and the presence or absence of safety mats, the slides differed in the amount of anxiety that they elicited vicariously in the viewer. In the study, the gymnasts were asked to imagine themselves in the position of the depicted model and to describe the anxiety that they felt. As they viewed the slides, their eye movements were recorded. As predicted, anxiety was associated with an increase in the number of fixations to peripheral areas. In addition, the more 'threatening' slides elicited significantly more fixations than the less feared images. In Study 2, the plans of 15 equestrian performers (5 expert, 5 intermediate and 5 novice) were elicited as they engaged in a virtual 'walk' around a computerized show-jumping course. Contrary to expectations, the congruence between intended and actual search behaviour was not significantly greater for expert riders than for the less skilled groups. Also, the fact that the top riders allocated more fixations to slides than the less skilled performers challenged the prediction that expertise would be associated with economy of visual search. Finally, as expected, the expert riders were significantly less dependent on the overall 'course plan' than the intermediate and novice equestrian performers when inspecting the fences.
Although General Practitioners (GPs) have a pivotal role in early detection and treatment of psyc... more Although General Practitioners (GPs) have a pivotal role in early detection and treatment of psychosis, there is sparse information on their views of early intervention (EI) services and how information related to EI should be delivered. Since inception, DETECT (Dublin East Treatment and Early Care Team), Ireland's pilot EI project, mailed information packs and provided information through the local GP continuing medical education (CME) network. After 1 year, we surveyed GPs within DETECT's catchment area for their views on the service being provided. One hundred and twenty-six (36%) responded and 80% found the EI service very/extremely useful. GPs reported that the combination of CME session and information packs were more useful than information packs alone. Those who attended CME meetings were significantly more likely to refer suspected cases (P < 0.01) and more likely to find the service useful (P < 0.001). The EI service for psychosis is well-received among GPs. Information about EI delivered through CME appears to have a greater impact on referral rates and satisfaction levels than mailed information.
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