The Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome as a tool to assess executive functions in schizophrenia

Recent research into the cognitive dysfunctions in schizophrenia has focuse d on executive deficits. This study investigates performance of patients wi th schizophrenia on the recently developed Behavourial Assessment of the Dy sexecutive Syndrome (BADS). Matched groups of 24 patients with schizophreni a and 17 healthy volunteers were administered the BADS, the Modified Card S orting Test (MCST), the Tower of London (TOL), a test of general intelligen ce, and measures of daily functioning. Performance of the schizophrenic gro up was significantly below that of the control group on the BADS and the MC ST, but not on the TOL. The BADS correlated weakly with the MCST. Both test s showed a modest correlation with daily functioning. The BADS appears to o ffer a useful contribution to the assessment of executive deficits in schiz ophrenia.