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Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Kharazmi University, Theran, Iran , fara@khu.ac.ir
Abstract: (50 Views)
Background: Impaired social cognition is one of the main features of schizophrenia. Most social cognition deficits described in chronic schizophrenia refer to impairments in emotion perception, social perception, social knowledge, theory of mind, and attributional style.
Aims: The present study aimed to systematically review the components of social cognition in chronic schizophrenia patients.
Methods: The method of this study was a systematic review. Accordingly, studies conducted in social cognition components in chronic schizophrenia patients between 2012 and 2025 were initially searched using relevant English keywords; "Chronic schizophrenia, Schizophrenia, Theory of mind, Components of social cognition, Social cognition, Empathy, Social judgment, Deficits in social cognition" in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Taylor and Francis databases (146 sources). After the screening, 125 invalid articles were discarded. Finally, based on the desired inclusion criteria, 20 full-text articles with the required conditions were selected through purposive sampling. These studies were critically analyzed. These studies were analyzed based on the analysis method of Boland et al.
Results: The findings showed social cognition deficits in the form of deficits in social perception, deficits in theory of mind, deficits in understanding emotions, deficits in empathic perception, deficits in mentalization, and attribution bias in chronic schizophrenia patients. In 12 articles, all domains of social cognition (emotion recognition, facial expression recognition, theory of mind, empathy, social judgment, attribution bias, and mentalization) in chronic schizophrenia patients have been addressed. Deficits in social perception were investigated in most studies.
Conclusion: Social cognition deficits in chronic schizophrenia patients are a serious and proven issue. In addition to medication, intervention protocols can enhance empathy, mutual understanding, and recognition of emotions.
Aims: The present study aimed to systematically review the components of social cognition in chronic schizophrenia patients.
Methods: The method of this study was a systematic review. Accordingly, studies conducted in social cognition components in chronic schizophrenia patients between 2012 and 2025 were initially searched using relevant English keywords; "Chronic schizophrenia, Schizophrenia, Theory of mind, Components of social cognition, Social cognition, Empathy, Social judgment, Deficits in social cognition" in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Taylor and Francis databases (146 sources). After the screening, 125 invalid articles were discarded. Finally, based on the desired inclusion criteria, 20 full-text articles with the required conditions were selected through purposive sampling. These studies were critically analyzed. These studies were analyzed based on the analysis method of Boland et al.
Results: The findings showed social cognition deficits in the form of deficits in social perception, deficits in theory of mind, deficits in understanding emotions, deficits in empathic perception, deficits in mentalization, and attribution bias in chronic schizophrenia patients. In 12 articles, all domains of social cognition (emotion recognition, facial expression recognition, theory of mind, empathy, social judgment, attribution bias, and mentalization) in chronic schizophrenia patients have been addressed. Deficits in social perception were investigated in most studies.
Conclusion: Social cognition deficits in chronic schizophrenia patients are a serious and proven issue. In addition to medication, intervention protocols can enhance empathy, mutual understanding, and recognition of emotions.
Keywords: Social cognition components, Emotion perception, social perception, Empathy, Chronic schizophrenia.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2025/04/17 | Accepted: 2025/07/17 | Published: 2026/04/21
Received: 2025/04/17 | Accepted: 2025/07/17 | Published: 2026/04/21
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