9th International Conference on Early Psychosis, Tokyo 2014 - Interpersonal sensitivity and functioning impairment in youth at ultra high risk for psychosis

Abstract

Background: During the prodromal phase of psychosis, many individuals experience decline in their psychosocial functioning. A personality trait that often elicits poor and uneasy interpersonal relationships is interpersonal sensitivity.
Objective: The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between interpersonal sensitivity and psychosocial functioning in youth at ultra high risk (UHR) for psychosis.
Results: UHR individuals showed higher interpersonal sensitivity and lower role and social functioning levels than other participants. A significant correlation between interpersonal sensitivity and psychosocial functioning impairment was found.
Conclusions: Individuals extremely sensitive to interpersonal interactions were strongly associated with social functioning impairment, confirming the hypothesis that detecting and treating subjective psychopathological aspects (i.e. interpersonal sensitivity) may be an important therapeutic target for UHR subjects.