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INTRODUCTION: Few studies have investigated whether youth with first-episode severe mental disorders experience higher levels of loneliness than healthy people. The relationship between loneliness and working memory deficits in such patients has yet to be investigated. METHODS: In all, 25, 28, and 24 youth with first-episode schizophrenia, first-episode bipolar disorder, and first-episode major depression, respectively, and 32 healthy controls were enrolled. All participants fulfilled the self-reported UCLA Loneliness Scale and underwent a working memory task. RESULTS: Patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder had higher levels of loneliness compared with the individuals in a control group. Youth with bipolar disorder and those with schizophrenia performed worse on the working memory task than the controls. We found a positive association between errors on the working memory task and loneliness levels. CONCLUSIONS: Loneliness and working memory deficits appear to be cross-diagnostic phenomena in adolescents and young adults with first-episode severe mental disorders.
Huang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.