Are relational style and neuropsychological performance predictors of social attributions in chronic schizophrenia? Gary Donohoe a, ⁎ , Ilaria Spoletini a,b , Nicola McGlade c , Caragh Behan c , Judy Hayden a , Therese O'Donoghue a , Rosie Peel a , Farhan Haq c , Christopher Walker a , Eadbhard O'Callaghan c , Gianfranco Spalletta b , Michael Gill a , Aiden Corvin a a Neuropsychiatric Genetics Research Group, Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland b IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Via Ardeatina, Rome, Italy c Department of Psychiatry, University College Dublin & Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock Co. Dublin, Ireland Received 15 August 2007; received in revised form 25 September 2007; accepted 3 October 2007 Abstract Attributional style is defined as the pervasive tendency to explain the cause of social actions in terms of oneself, or others, or the context of the event. While the clinical correlates of this aspect of social cognition have been widely researched, its links with relationship style and neuropsychological performance, although hypothesised, have received less attention. This study investigated whether attributional style is predicted by variance in either relationship style or neuropsychological performance in schizophrenia. We assessed attributional style (using the Internal, Personal and Situational Attributions Questionnaire [IPSAQ]), relationship style (using Bartholomew and Horowitz's Relationship Questionnaire), and neuropsychological function (using the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, athe Wechsler Memory Test, and the Cambridge Automated Test Battery) in 73 stabilised outpatients with chronic schizophrenia and 78 controls matched for age and gender. ‘Externalising bias’ (attributing positive rather than negative events to oneself) was predicted by verbal ability in both patients and controls. ‘Personalising bias’ (attributing negative events to others rather than to situational factors) was predicted by higher secure relationship style ratings, but only in the patient group. This study highlights the importance of relationship style and neuropsychological performance for different aspects of attributional style in schizophrenia. © 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Schizophrenia; Verbal IQ; Logical memory; Social cognition; IPSAQ; Social attributions; Relationship style 1. Introduction Social cognition – the ability to construct representa- tions of the relations between ourselves and others (Adolphs, 2001) – is a key requirement for interacting flexibly in interpersonal situations. In schizophrenia, social cognition has been parsed into the separate (but overlapping) abilities of affect recognition (Penn et al., 1996), theory of mind (Frith, 1992), social knowledge Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Psychiatry Research 161 (2008) 19 – 27 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychres ⁎ Corresponding author. Neuropsychiatric Genetics Research Group, Department of Psychiatry, Trinity Health Sciences Building, St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland. Tel.: +353 1 896 2467; fax: +353 1 896 3405. E-mail address: donoghug@tcd.ie (G. Donohoe). 0165-1781/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2007.10.001