scholarly journals Interrelationships between Depressive Symptoms and Positive and Negative Symptoms of Recent Onset Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: A Network Analytical Approach

Author(s):  
Sarah E. Herniman ◽  
Lisa J. Phillips ◽  
Stephen J. Wood ◽  
Sue M. Cotton ◽  
Edith J. Liemburg ◽  
...  
2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Schrank ◽  
M. Amering ◽  
A. Grant Hay ◽  
M. Weber ◽  
I. Sibitz

Aims.Insight, positive and negative symptoms, hope, depression and self-stigma are relevant variables in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. So far, research on their mutual influences has been patchy. This study simultaneously tests the associations between these variables.Methods.A total of 284 people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were assessed using the Schedule for the Assessment of Insight, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Integrative Hope Scale, Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness scale. Path analysis was applied to test the hypothesized relationships between the variables.Results.Model support was excellent. Strong and mutual causal influences were confirmed between hope, depression and self-stigma. The model supported the assumption that insight diminishes hope and increases depression and self-stigma. While negative symptoms directly affected these three variables, reducing hope and increasing depression and self-stigma, positive symptoms did not. However, positive symptoms diminished self-stigma on a pathway via insight.Conclusions.This study provides a comprehensive synopsis of the relationships between six variables relevant for schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Research implications include the need to investigate determinants of consequences of insight, and the sequence of influences exerted by positive and negative symptoms. Clinical implications include the importance of interventions against self-stigma and of taking a contextualized approach to insight.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 259-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Wittorf ◽  
Ute Jakobi ◽  
Andreas Bechdolf ◽  
Bernhard Müller ◽  
Gudrun Sartory ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundThe consistent association between therapeutic alliance and outcome underlines the importance of identifying factors which predict the development of a positive alliance. However, only few studies have examined the association between pretreatment characteristics and alliance formation in patients with schizophrenia.ObjectiveThe study examined whether symptoms and insight would predict the therapeutic alliance in psychotherapy of schizophrenia. Further, the associations and differences between patient and therapist alliance ratings were studied.MethodsEighty patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders received manual-based psychotherapy. Assessment of symptoms and insight was conducted at baseline, and questionnaire-based alliance ratings were obtained three weeks into treatment. Patient and therapist alliance ratings were examined separately.ResultsPatient and therapist alliance ratings were not significantly correlated (r = 0.17). Patient ratings of the alliance were significantly higher than the ratings of their therapists (d = 0.73). More insight in psychosis significantly predicted higher patient ratings of the alliance. Less positive and negative symptoms were significant predictors of higher therapist alliance ratings.ConclusionThe findings indicate that symptoms and insight have an influence on the therapeutic alliance in the treatment of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Patients' and therapists' perceptions of the alliance do not seem to demonstrate much convergence.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C Cicero ◽  
Katherine Jonas ◽  
Michael Chmielewski ◽  
Elizabeth A Martin ◽  
Anna Docherty ◽  
...  

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology consortium aims to develop a comprehensive self-report measure to assess psychopathology dimensionally. The current research describes the initial conceptualization, development, and item selection for the thought disorder spectrum and related constructs from other spectra. The thought disorder spectrum is defined primarily by the positive and disorganized traits and symptoms of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. The Thought Disorder Sub-Workgroup identified and defined 16 relevant constructs and wrote 10-15 items per each construct. These items were administered, along with detachment and mania items, to undergraduates and people with serious mental illness. Three hundred sixty-five items across 25 scales were administered. An exploratory factor analysis of the scale scores suggested a two-factor structure corresponding to positive and negative symptoms for both samples. The mania scales loaded with the positive factor, while the detachment scales loaded with the negative factor. Item-level analyses resulted in 19 preliminary scales, including 224 items that cover the range of thought disorder pathology, and will be carried forward for the next phase of data collection/analysis.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
J. N. de Boer ◽  
A. E. Voppel ◽  
S. G. Brederoo ◽  
H. G. Schnack ◽  
K. P. Truong ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Clinicians routinely use impressions of speech as an element of mental status examination. In schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, descriptions of speech are used to assess the severity of psychotic symptoms. In the current study, we assessed the diagnostic value of acoustic speech parameters in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, as well as its value in recognizing positive and negative symptoms. Methods Speech was obtained from 142 patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and 142 matched controls during a semi-structured interview on neutral topics. Patients were categorized as having predominantly positive or negative symptoms using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Acoustic parameters were extracted with OpenSMILE, employing the extended Geneva Acoustic Minimalistic Parameter Set, which includes standardized analyses of pitch (F0), speech quality and pauses. Speech parameters were fed into a random forest algorithm with leave-ten-out cross-validation to assess their value for a schizophrenia-spectrum diagnosis, and PANSS subtype recognition. Results The machine-learning speech classifier attained an accuracy of 86.2% in classifying patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and controls on speech parameters alone. Patients with predominantly positive v. negative symptoms could be classified with an accuracy of 74.2%. Conclusions Our results show that automatically extracted speech parameters can be used to accurately classify patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and healthy controls, as well as differentiate between patients with predominantly positive v. negatives symptoms. Thus, the field of speech technology has provided a standardized, powerful tool that has high potential for clinical applications in diagnosis and differentiation, given its ease of comparison and replication across samples.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen R Dwyer ◽  
Alexandra M Andrea ◽  
Christina L G Savage ◽  
Ryan D Orth ◽  
LeeAnn Shan ◽  
...  

Abstract Prior studies examining the impact of oxytocin on negative symptoms in schizophrenia have yielded mixed results. The current study explored whether oxytocin can improve more proximal indicators of social affiliation as indicated by changes in behavior, language and subjective indices of social affiliation among individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders during a role-play designed to elicit affiliative responses. We tested the hypothesis that daily intranasal oxytocin administered for 6 weeks would improve social affiliation as manifested by increased social skill ratings, use of positive, affiliative, and social words, and subjective responses from a previously published randomized controlled trial. Forty outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were randomized to the oxytocin, galantamine, or placebo group and completed affiliative role-plays and self-report questionnaires of affect, reactions to the affiliative confederate, and willingness to interact at baseline and post-treatment. Results demonstrated that oxytocin was not effective at improving behavioral or subjective indicators of social affiliation. This study adds to a growing literature that the prosocial effects of oxytocin in schizophrenia are limited or null.


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