INSIGHT IN SCHIZOPHRENIA AND MOOD DISORDERS AND ITS RELATION TO PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

The authors assessed insight on admission on the 15th, 30th and discha rge day in 77 female inpatients (42 schizophrenic, 13 manic, 22 depres sives) using McEvoy's Insight and Treatment Attitude Questionnaire (IT AQ) and studied its relation to psychopathology, which was assessed by completion of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (18-item version). T he data suggest that depressives had good initial (on admission) insig ht, schizophrenics the poorest, followed shortly by manics. Insight (I TAQ total score) improved significantly after treatment in both mania and schizophrenia. Moreover a constantly significant negative correlat ion existed between ITAQ and BPRS in mania but not in schizophrenia, i ndicating that other factors besides psychopathology might influence i nsight in schizophrenia.