(PS7-96) Social Cognition in Postpartum Psychosis

It is well established that individuals with psychotic disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders in particular, struggle with social cognition throughout the lifespan. However, we do not know if these social cognitive difficulties are present in individuals with postpartum psychosis. Past findings have demonstrated that postpartum psychosis tends to present with fewer negative or disorganized symptoms than other psychotic disorders (Kamperman et al., 2017), and impairments in social cognition may be more associated with negative symptoms (Lincoln et al., 2011). However, postpartum psychosis is incredibly understudied, and no findings to date have specifically examined social cognition in this diagnosis. In the present study, we aim to better characterize individuals who experience postpartum psychosis by comparing their social cognitive abilities with other postpartum individuals.  

This study is cross-sectional and completed online. Recruitment is underway and analyses will take place by October 2024. We aim to enroll N=90 participants (n=30 with postpartum psychosis within the past 10 years; n=30 with postpartum depression within past 10 years; and n=30 with no postpartum psychiatric symptoms). We plan to enroll a racially and ethnically diverse sample by recruiting from diverse online postpartum forums and ResearchMatch.org.

Participants will complete self-report measures and clinical interviews including: the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (Sheehan, 1998); Emotion Recognition Assessment in Multiple Modalities Test (Laukka et al., 2021); Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief (Loewy et al., 2011); Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (Kroenke et al., 2001); and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1980). This is an exploratory study with no a priori hypothesis, given the lack of studies to date examining social cognition in postpartum psychosis. Analyses will examine between-groups differences in social cognition abilities.

Results from this study can reveal whether deficits in social cognition are associated with postpartum psychosis in order to better characterize this diagnosis. Additionally, examining this specific cognitive feature may help us further understand variations in psychotic disorders and whether post-partum psychosis has neuropsychological features overlapping with other psychosis spectrum disorders.