Both cognitive appraisals of risks associated with the specific disease and affective response to crisis situations have been shown to shape an individual response to pandemics. COVID-19 pandemic and measures introduced to contain it present an unparalleled challenge to mental well-being worldwide. Here, we examine the relationship between self-reported cognitive biases (CB) and emotion regulation skills (ER), COVID-19 risk perception and affective response, and mental well-being (MWB). Five Hundred and Eleven individuals completed General Health Questionnaire, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale (DACOBS) as well as scales measuring COVID-19 risk perception and affective response during the initial days of the epidemic in Poland. We used path and bootstrapping analyses to examine the hypothesis that CB may shape MWB during COVID-19 pandemic both directly and indirectly by (i) decreasing ER capacity and (ii) by increasing COVID-19 risk perception and affective response. Negative effect of CB and positive effect of ER via cognitive reappraisal on MWB were observed in participants. Furthermore, in line with our hypothesis, we observed indirect effects of CB via increased COVID-19 risk perception and affective response and decreased use of reappraisal strategy, which all, in turn, were related to MWB. Finally, we found an indirect effect of CB on MWB through double mediation of suppression strategies and COVID-19 affective response. Results of the current study suggest that CB, which have been shown to be linked to a variety of mental health symptoms in non-clinical populations, may exacerbate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health outcomes.

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Objective: Loneliness is a concern for patients with schizophrenia. However, the correlates of loneliness in patients with schizophrenia are unclear; thus, the aim of the study is to investigate neuro- and social cognitive mechanisms associated with loneliness in individuals with schizophrenia. Method: Data from clinical, neurocognitive, and social cognitive assessments were pooled from two cross-national samples (Poland/USA) to examine potential predictors of loneliness in 147 patients with schizophrenia and 103 healthy controls overall. Furthermore, the relationship between social cognition and loneliness was explored in clusters of patients with schizophrenia differing in social cognitive capacity. Results: Patients reported higher levels of loneliness than healthy controls. Loneliness was linked to increased negative and affective symptoms in patients. A negative association between loneliness and mentalizing and emotion recognition abilities was found in the patients with social-cognitive impairments, but not in those who performed at normative levels. Conclusions: We have elucidated a novel mechanism which may explain previous inconsistent findings regarding the correlates of loneliness in individuals with schizophrenia.

Cel pracyCelem prezentowanego badania była adaptacja na język polski i walidacja Testu Wskazówek (Hinting Task) – wartościowego narzędzia służącego do badania zaburzeń teorii umysłu u osób chorych na schizofrenię.MetodaPrzeprowadzono badanie z udziałem dwóch grup: pacjentów z diagnozą schizofrenii oraz osób bez historii zaburzeń psychicznych i neurologicznych. Przeanalizowano własności psychometryczne testu, a także obliczono różnice w wynikach pomiędzy badanymi grupami. Dodatkowo, w grupie klinicznej oceniano też korelację nasilenia objawów psychopatologicznych z wynikiem Testu WskazówekWynikiOtrzymane rezultaty wskazują na zadowalające własności psychometryczne (spójność wewnętrzną, zgodność ocen oraz trafność zewnętrzną), pozwalające na stosowanie testu do porównań międzygrupowych w celach badawczych. Przedstawiony test istotnie różnicował badane grupy: osoby ze schizofrenią oraz osoby zdrowe. Przeciwnie do oczekiwań, w grupie osób chorych na schizofrenię wynik Testu Wskazówek nie był istotnie skorelowany z nasileniem objawów psychopatologicznych.WnioskiPolska wersja Testu Wskazówek prezentuje własności odpowiednie do celów badawczych. Przydatność omawianego narzędzia w badaniach z udziałem innych grup klinicznych wymaga dalszych badań.