Salih Cihat PALTUN, Arda KIZILSERT, Yahya Mert AKKAYA, Metin ASLAN, Mine ERGELEN, Hüseyin GÜLEÇ
Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology - 2026;36(4):419-429
Background: Time perception, which has been conceptualized as a distinct sensory modality in some models, has been investigated in various psychiatric disorders. There is evidence suggesting impairments in time perception tasks among individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and depressive disorder. This study aimed to examine the relationship between time estimation, production task performance, and both psychotic and depressive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: A total of 50 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 50 healthy controls were administered structured time estimation and time production tasks at varying intervals. Additionally, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) were used for symptom assessment and correlational analyses. Results: In exploratory unadjusted analyses, significant group differences were observed at the 1-, 13-, and 32-second time estimation intervals. In the primary adjusted analyses controlling for age and smoking status, significant group differences remained at the 13-second and 32-second intervals. No significant group differences were observed for any time production interval. Conclusion: In this stabilized inpatient sample, patients with schizophrenia exhibited significantly greater time-estimation errors at the 13-second and 32-second intervals in the primary adjusted analyses, whereas time-production performance did not differ significantly from that of healthy controls. The absence of statistically significant associations with psychotic or depressive symptom scores suggests that timing performance may be partly independent of current symptom severity; longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether these abnormalities represent trait-like characteristics.
