Few studies of the relationship of insight to psychopathology have been conducted in non-Western populations. This study examined the relationships between insight and depression, anxiety, and positive and negative symptoms on patients with schizophrenia resident in a psychiatric hospital in Ghana. A sample of 49 participants, (37 men and 12 women), with DSM-IV defined schizophrenia took part in semistructured interviews consisting of the Hamilton Rating Scales for Depression (HAM-D) and Anxiety (HAM-A); the Schedule for the Assessment of Insight - Expanded Version (SAI-E) and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Bivariate correlations between variables were examined and those significantly correlated with an insight domain were included in multiple regression models. Variables associated with the total insight score were age, gender, anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, and treatment compliance. In the final model, HAM-D positively predicted total SAI-E score, whilst PANSS-pos was negatively associated with total SAI-E score. The results are broadly consistent with those found in Western samples regarding insight and depressive symptoms. Implications of these results for competing theories of insight in psychoses are discussed. Patients able to identify themselves as ill may be aware of their affective symptoms.
Keywords: Ghana; West Africa; depression; insight; psychosis; schizophrenia.