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SSTICS complaints are linked more to depression than cognition

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Research area:mental-health-psychiatrypsychiatric-care

What the study found

The meta-analysis found that people with schizophrenia reported more cognitive complaints than healthy controls. These complaints were not significantly related to global objective cognition, but they were more strongly linked to depressive symptoms and only weakly linked to illness insight.

Why the authors say this matters

The authors conclude that SSTICS-based complaints may reflect emotional distress rather than actual cognitive deficits. They also suggest that the findings support refining the SSTICS subscales and extending this line of research to other psychiatric populations.

What the researchers tested

The researchers conducted a meta-analysis following PRISMA guidelines, using systematic searches of PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. They included studies in psychiatric populations that used the Subjective Scale to Investigate Cognition in Schizophrenia (SSTICS), compared patients with healthy controls, examined correlations with cognition, symptoms, or illness insight, or performed factor analyses of SSTICS domains.

What worked and what didn't

Twenty-five studies with 3,205 participants met the criteria. Schizophrenia patients reported more cognitive complaints than controls, but complaints showed no significant correlation with global objective cognition and were unrelated to positive, negative, or general symptoms; they showed a moderate association with depressive symptoms and a small association with illness insight. Factor analyses consistently identified three domains: memory, attention, and daily living.

What to keep in mind

The summary does not describe limitations beyond the fact that the evidence comes from studies using the SSTICS. The review also focused on psychiatric populations and on the specific outcomes listed in the abstract.

Key points

  • People with schizophrenia reported more cognitive complaints than healthy controls.
  • Subjective complaints were not significantly correlated with global objective cognition.
  • Complaints were moderately associated with depressive symptoms and weakly associated with illness insight.
  • Factor analyses repeatedly found three SSTICS domains: memory, attention, and daily living.
  • The authors suggest the complaints may reflect emotional distress rather than actual deficits.

Disclosure

Research title:
SSTICS complaints are linked more to depression than cognition
Authors:
Naomi Rosh White, Stéphane Potvin, André Do, Emmanuel Stip
Institutions:
Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Québec, Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Québec, Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Québec, Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Québec, Université de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Université de Montréal
Publication date:
2026-03-03
DOI:
10.1177/07067437261425086
OpenAlex record:
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AI provenance: This post was generated by gpt-5.4-mini (OpenAI). The original authors did not write or review this post.

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