ABSTRACT
Functional impairment remains one of the most challenging issues for treatment in schizophrenia. However, previous studies have mainly focused on the negative impact of symptoms excluding variables that could positively impact functional outcome, such as creativity, which is considered an adaptive capacity for real-life problem-solving. This study analyzed the predictive role of creativity on functional outcome in 96 patients with schizophrenia through a mediational model, including sociodemographic, clinical, neurocognitive, and social cognitive variables. Path analysis revealed that creativity significantly mediated the relationship between neurocognition and functional outcome, and that creativity mediated between negative symptoms and functional outcome. Additionally, neurocognition was directly associated with functional outcome and social functioning was associated with creativity. The involvement of creativity in functional outcome could have relevant implications for the development of new interventions. These findings open up a new field of research on additional personal resources as possible factors of functional outcome in schizophrenia and other diseases.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Creativity is considered an essential human accomplishment and a key component for daily life problem solving. It has been suggested that impairment in working memory, cognitive flexibility, and theory of mind could lead to lower creativity in schizophrenia. Additionally, other neurocognitive and social cognitive domains, as well as clinical symptoms could play a role in this relationship. However, the extent to which each of these domains influences creativity in schizophrenia remains unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to simultaneously investigate the specific contribution of neurocognitive, social cognitive, and clinical variables to creativity in schizophrenia. METHODS: One hundred and one patients with schizophrenia were assessed in terms of sociodemographic, clinical, neurocognitive, social cognitive, and creativity variables. RESULTS: After controlling for sociodemographic variables, regression analyses showed that higher social perception (ß = 0.286, p = .004) and processing speed (ß = 0.219, p = .023) predicted creativity total score. Higher social perception (ß = 0.298, p = .002) and processing speed (ß = 0.277, p = .004) explained figural creativity. Finally, lower negative symptoms (ß = -0.302, p = .002) and higher social perception (ß = 0.210, p = .029) predicted verbal creativity. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that neurocognitive, social cognitive, as well as clinical symptoms influence creativity of patients with schizophrenia. Moreover, these findings point out the prominent role of social cognition in creativity in schizophrenia.
