Exploring Personal Recovery in Schizophrenia: The Role of Mentalization

Recovery is a broadly debated concept in the field of psychiatry research and in schizophrenia. Our study aims to understand the correlation between personal recovery from schizophrenia and factors such as mentalization, disability, quality of life, and antipsychotic side effects; Methods: Participants with schizophrenia (according to DSM-5 criteria) were consecutively recruited from the Psychiatry Unit of the University of Catania, Italy. Participants were assessed with the Recovery Assessment Scale (RAS), the Multidimensional Mentalizing Questionnaire (MMQ), the brief version of the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHO-DAS), the EuroQoL-5 dimensions-5 levels, the Insight Orientation Scale (IOS) and the Glasgow Antipsychotic Side Effect Scale (GASS); Results: 81 patients were included. Our findings showed a positive correlation between RAS total scores and MMQ scores, especially in “good mentalizing” subdomains. IOS scores also had a positive association with RAS and MMQ scores. In contrast, poor mentalizing abilities negatively correlated with WHO-DAS 2.0 scores. While antipsychotic side effects influenced functioning, they did not impact perceived recovery. Conclusions: The study’s results identified potential predictors of personal recovery from schizophrenia. These findings could contribute to creating tailored interventions to facilitate the recovery process.