Neurocognitive correlates of helplessness, hopelessness, and well-being inschizophrenia

Persons with schizophrenia are widely recognized to experience potent feeli ngs of hopelessness, helplessness, and a fragile sense of well-being. Altho ugh these subjective experiences have been linked to positive symptoms, lit tle is known about their relationship to neurocognition. Accordingly, this study examined the relationship of self-reports of hope, self-efficacy, and well-being to measures of neurocognition, symptoms, and coping among 49 pe rsons with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Results suggest that poorer executive function, verbal memory, and a greater reliance on escape avoidance as a coping mechanism predicted significantly higher levels of ho pe and well being with multiple regressions accounting for 34% and 20% of t he variance (p < .0001), respectively. Self-efficacy predicted lower levels of positive symptoms and greater preference for escape avoidance as a copi ng mechanism with a multiple repression accounting for 9% of the variance ( p < .05). Results may suggest that higher levels of neurocognitive impairme nt and an avoidant coping style may shield some with schizophrenia from pai nful subjective experiences. Theoretical and practical implications for reh abilitation are discussed.