Insight in Relation to Psychosocial Adjustment in Schizophrenia

Insight impairment occurs commonly in patients with schizophrenia, and it can be expected that patients with impaired insight may subsequently have poorer psychosocial adjustment. The aim of the present study was to measure the relationship between insight and psychosocial adjustment in 38 inpatients with a diagnosis of DSM-IV schizophrenia. Insight was assessed using the Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder. A comprehensive set of measures was used to assess psychosocial adjustment. No relationship was found between measures of psychosocial adjustment and insight. However, a self-rated measure of psychosocial adjustment was partially related to insight. Our results suggest that patients’ insight levels may not be reliable predictors of the patients’ level of psychosocial adjustment, and that these findings may need to be considered in continuous care of psychotic patients, in particular when outpatient care needs to be planned.