INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 05 Program Schedule 02/15/2024 02:30 pm - 03:45 pm Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120) Poster Session 05: Neuropsychiatry \| Addiction/Dependence \| Stress/Coping \| Emotional/Social Processes Final Abstract #102 Examination of the Relationship Between Delusional Thinking and Depression with Social Cognition in Nonclinical Adults Jessica Yang, Roosevelt University, Chicago, United States Jessica Lanctot, Roosevelt University, Chicago, United States Brooke Boulais, Roosevelt University, Chicago, United States Jessica Paxton, Roosevelt University, Chicago, United States Category: Social Cognition Keyword 1: social cognition Keyword 2: depression Keyword 3: psychosis Objective: Social cognition involves understanding, recognizing, and appropriately using social stimuli in one’s environment and is important in fostering supportive relationships and general emotional wellness. Social cognition can be further broken down into several domains, including theory of mind and emotion processing. Previous research has demonstrated a strong link between psychosis, specifically paranoid delusions, and worse performance on measures assessing social cognition. Though impairment in social cognition has been observed in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), less is known regarding the correlation between social cognition and depression and delusional thinking in nonclinical populations. This study addresses this gap by examining how nonclinical delusional thinking and depression impact key processes of social cognition (i.e., emotion intensity differentiation and emotion recognition) in an adult community sample. Participants and Methods: Participants included nonclinical community-dwelling adults who completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery through the Nathan Kline Institute’s Rockland Project. The 1111 participants were 36% male, ages 18-85 (M=47, SD=17.97), and 76% White, 16% Black, and 5% Asian. Delusional thinking was assessed using the total score on the 21-item Peters et al. Delusions Inventory. Depressive symptomology was assessed using the total score on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Social cognition was measured using the number of correct responses score on the Measured Emotion Differentiation Test (Measured EMODIFF) and the Penn Emotion Recognition Task (ER-40), which are tests included in the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery. Separate multiple linear regressions were conducted with each social cognition measure as the dependent variable and non-clinical delusional thinking and depressive symptomology as independent variables. Age was included as a covariate in the first block of the regression models. Results: Depression (M = 6.18, SD =7.18) and delusional thinking (M = 3.2, SD = 2.86) were low overall. Regression analyses adjusted for age revealed that neither depression nor delusional thinking predicted aspects of social cognition performance. Depressive symptomatology was not significantly associated with performance on the Measured EMODIFF (B= .023, p = .524) nor the ER-40 (B = -.043, p = .223). Likewise, delusional thinking was not significantly associated with performance on the Measured EMODIFF (B = -.0.59, p = .102) nor the ER-40 (B = -.015, p = .658). Age was inversely associated with performance on the ER-40 (B = -0.47, p<.001), but did not predict performance on the Measured EMODIFF (B = -.61, p=.061). Multicollinearity diagnostics were within acceptable limits (i.e., variance inflation factors [VIFs] < 4.2; tolerances > .24) for all models. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that delusional thinking and depressive symptomology did not predict social cognition performance pertaining to emotion recognition and emotion intensity differentiation in a nonclinical adult community sample. Interestingly, older age predicted emotion recognition ability but not the ability to detect emotion intensity. These findings suggest that subtle variation to social cognition seen in a community population may not be best explained by nonclinical delusional thinking or depressive symptoms. A follow-up study with greater variability in delusional thinking may elucidate the comparative impact of depression and delusional thinking on social cognition in nonclinical populations.

Poster

02/15/2024
02:30 pm - 03:45 pm
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)

Poster Session 05: Neuropsychiatry | Addiction/Dependence | Stress/Coping | Emotional/Social Processes

Final Abstract #102

Examination of the Relationship Between Delusional Thinking and Depression with Social Cognition in Nonclinical Adults

Jessica Yang, Roosevelt University, Chicago, United States
Jessica Lanctot, Roosevelt University, Chicago, United States
Brooke Boulais, Roosevelt University, Chicago, United States
Jessica Paxton, Roosevelt University, Chicago, United States

Category: Social Cognition

Keyword 1: social cognition
Keyword 2: depression
Keyword 3: psychosis

Objective:

Social cognition involves understanding, recognizing, and appropriately using social stimuli in one’s environment and is important in fostering supportive relationships and general emotional wellness. Social cognition can be further broken down into several domains, including theory of mind and emotion processing. Previous research has demonstrated a strong link between psychosis, specifically paranoid delusions, and worse performance on measures assessing social cognition. Though impairment in social cognition has been observed in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), less is known regarding the correlation between social cognition and depression and delusional thinking in nonclinical populations. This study addresses this gap by examining how nonclinical delusional thinking and depression impact key processes of social cognition (i.e., emotion intensity differentiation and emotion recognition) in an adult community sample.

Participants and Methods:

Participants included nonclinical community-dwelling adults who completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery through the Nathan Kline Institute’s Rockland Project. The 1111 participants were 36% male, ages 18-85 (M=47, SD=17.97), and 76% White, 16% Black, and 5% Asian. Delusional thinking was assessed using the total score on the 21-item Peters et al. Delusions Inventory. Depressive symptomology was assessed using the total score on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Social cognition was measured using the number of correct responses score on the Measured Emotion Differentiation Test (Measured EMODIFF) and the Penn Emotion Recognition Task (ER-40), which are tests included in the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery. Separate multiple linear regressions were conducted with each social cognition measure as the dependent variable and non-clinical delusional thinking and depressive symptomology as independent variables. Age was included as a covariate in the first block of the regression models.

Results:

Depression (M = 6.18, SD =7.18) and delusional thinking (M = 3.2, SD = 2.86) were low overall. Regression analyses adjusted for age revealed that neither depression nor delusional thinking predicted aspects of social cognition performance. Depressive symptomatology was not significantly associated with performance on the Measured EMODIFF (B= .023, p = .524) nor the ER-40 (B = -.043, p = .223). Likewise, delusional thinking was not significantly associated with performance on the Measured EMODIFF (B = -.0.59, p = .102) nor the ER-40 (B = -.015, p = .658). Age was inversely associated with performance on the ER-40 (B = -0.47, p<.001), but did not predict performance on the Measured EMODIFF (B = -.61, p=.061). Multicollinearity diagnostics were within acceptable limits (i.e., variance inflation factors [VIFs] < 4.2; tolerances > .24) for all models.

Conclusions:

Our findings demonstrate that delusional thinking and depressive symptomology did not predict social cognition performance pertaining to emotion recognition and emotion intensity differentiation in a nonclinical adult community sample. Interestingly, older age predicted emotion recognition ability but not the ability to detect emotion intensity. These findings suggest that subtle variation to social cognition seen in a community population may not be best explained by nonclinical delusional thinking or depressive symptoms. A follow-up study with greater variability in delusional thinking may elucidate the comparative impact of depression and delusional thinking on social cognition in nonclinical populations.