Abstract
The Comparison of Negative Facial Expressions Ability among Schizophrenic Spectrum Patients (Paranoid/Non- paranoid), Their Siblings and Healthy People
Author(s): Nazanin Seyed Yaghoubi*, Leila Shateri, Abbas Bakhshipour Rudsar, Touraj Hashemi Nosratabad and Naimeh Mashinchi AbbasiIntroduction: According to literature schizophrenic patients have problems in cognitive domains, particularly social cognition and it’s one of the most studied social cognition processes in schizophrenia. The present study aims to investigate the ability to recognize negative facial expressions in schizophrenic patients (paranoid/non-paranoid) in comparison with their siblings and healthy people.
Methods: This research was conducted with comparative method and the population was schizophrenic spectrum patients (paranoid/ non-paranoid), their siblings and healthy people. Using convenience sampling, 60 paranoid schizophrenic patients and 60 non-paranoid schizophrenic patients, 119 siblings, and 30 healthy people were selected. Ekman test which displays 60 pictures used to measure facial expressions recognition ability. The results were analyzed through Multivariate Analysis of Variance Method (MANOVA).
Results: Findings showed that non-paranoid schizophrenic patients had a lower performance in the diagnosis of the negative facial expressions rather than their siblings (P<.001), while no significant differences were found between paranoid schizophrenics’ performance and their siblings. There was a significant difference between the ability of the siblings of non-paranoid schizophrenics in comparison with healthy people.
Conclusion: It can be concluded that deficits in the recognition of facial expressions is a cognitive deficit that intensifies the negative symptoms of schizophrenia disorder.