[Polish version of Comprehensive Assessment of At Risk Mental States (CAARMS)--the description of the method]. / Polska wersja Kompleksowej Oceny Zagrazajacych Stanów Psychicznych (CAARMS)--opis metody.

The first psychotic episode is usually preceded by the decline in functioning as well as the occurrence of symptoms, which due to low intensity or short duration do not fulfil the criteria allowing for the recognition of delusions or hallucinations. Early intervention at this stage may prevent the development of psychosis or its onset. It is thus necessary to implement clearly established criteria, which will allow for the identification of patients with a high risk for developing psychosis. One of the diagnostic tools used to identify this stage is the Comprehensive Assessment of at Risk Mental States (CAARMS) developed by Alison Young et al. in the PACE Clinic in Melbourne. This is a method which seems to be a useful tool in everyday medical practice.

[Facial emotion perception in schizophrenia: relationships with cognitive and social functioning]. / Rozpoznawanie emocji twarzy w schizofrenii: zwiazek z funkcjonowaniem poznawczym i spolecznym.

UNLABELLED: Evidence suggests that facial emotion recognition is disturbed in schizophrenic patients however its nature has not been elucidated. Affect recognition is an important aspect of psychosocial functioning. AIM: In this study we assessed recognition of facial emotional expression in schizophrenic patients and its relationship with selected clinical and neuropsychological variables as well as with social functioning. METHOD: We used Penn Emotional Facial Recognition (ER40) task, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test WCST, Social Functioning Scale. Twenty-three patients who met the DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia -paranoid type, hospitalised at the Department of Adult Psychiatry University of Medical Sciences in Poznan, Poland were involved in the study. The control group of healthy volunteers matched for gender and age was included. RESULTS: Schizophrenic patients performed worse on emotion recognition test than the control group. The relationship between results of ER-40 and WCST and severity of negative symptoms was found. CONCLUSION: Cognitive dysfunctions and disturbances of facial emotion recognition are closely linked in patients with schizophrenia, however casual relationships and relation to symptomatology remains unclear and further studies are necessary.