Poor insight and self-disorders in schizophrenia: an empirical study.
Lars Siersbæk Nilsson, Julie Nordgaard, Mads Gram Henriksen, Josef Parnas, Andreas Rosén Rasmussen
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience April 1, 2026 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-025-02035-7 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 67 |
| Population | Patients with schizophrenia or non-affective psychosis in non-acute phase |
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Ease Psychopathology Psychosis Subjective experience |
| Citations | 5 |
| Key findings | Self-disorders were significantly associated with impaired insight in schizophrenia, independently of other psychopathology and general intelligence. |
Abstract
Poor insight is a core feature of schizophrenia and empirical studies have demonstrated associations with important symptom domains, cognitive functions, and clinical outcomes. While recent explanatory accounts mostly focus on neuro-, social-, or meta-cognitive deficits, a complementary model from phenomenological psychopathology suggests that impaired insight in schizophrenia is tied to fundamental alterations to the structure of subjectivity, viz. self-disorders affecting the conditions for self-reflection, that usually precede psychotic experiences and persist temporally beyond state-psychopathology. In line with this account, we hypothesized that self-disorders would be associated with impaired insight independently of shared associations with other forms of psychopathology and general intelligence. A sample of 67 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or non-affective psychosis in non-acute phase of illness underwent comprehensive psychopathological examination including the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experiences (EASE) for assessment of self-disorders and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). PANSS item G12 was used as measure of insight. The group with impaired insight was characterized by a significantly higher level of self-disorders than the group with good insight, but there were no significant between-group differences regarding positive, negative, or depressive symptoms. In simple linear regression analysis only self-disorders were significantly associated with impaired insight, and multiple linear regression showed similar results. Our findings support the theoretical claim that self-disorders are linked to poor insight in schizophrenia. If corroborated this may have implications for early intervention and treatment.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Survey of entity encounter experiences occasioned by inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine: Phenomenology, interpretation, and enduring effects. People who had a memorable entity encounter after taking N,N-dimethyltryptamine | 2020 | Survey | n = 2,561 |
| Future directions in meditation research: Recommendations for expanding the field of contemplative science Meditators | 2018 | Cross-sectional online survey | n = 1,120 |
| The Phenomenology of Lucid Dreaming: An Online Survey Respondents to an online survey about lucid dreams | 2014 | Online survey | n = 684 |
| The neurophenomenology of early psychosis: An integrative empirical study. Ultra-high risk for psychosis patients, first episode psychosis patients, and healthy... | 2019 | Cross-sectional | n = 123 |
| Spontaneous Spiritual Awakenings: Phenomenology, Altered States, Individual Differences, and Well-Being People reporting their most powerful Spontaneous Spiritual or Kundalini Awakening | 2021 | Mixed within and between-participants self-report survey design | n = 152 |
Citations in the library
Cites 13
- Self‐experience in the early phases of schizophrenia: 5‐year follow‐up of the Copenhagen Prodromal Study World Psychiatry October 1, 2011
- Double bookkeeping and schizophrenia spectrum: divided unified phenomenal consciousness. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience December 1, 2021
- Double bookkeeping in schizophrenia spectrum disorder: an empirical-phenomenological study. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience September 1, 2024
- Phenomenology of auditory verbal hallucination in schizophrenia: An erroneous perception or something else? Schizophrenia Research March 1, 2024
- Anomalies of Imagination, Self-Disorders, and Schizophrenia Spectrum Psychopathology: A Network Analysis. Frontiers in Psychiatry 2021
and 8 more in the library