scholarly journals Structure of Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia: An Unresolved Issue

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Russo ◽  
Selman Repisti ◽  
Biljana Blazhevska Stoilkovska ◽  
Stefan Jerotic ◽  
Ivan Ristic ◽  
...  

Background: Negative symptoms are core features of schizophrenia and very challenging to be treated. Identification of their structure is crucial to provide a better treatment. Increasing evidence supports the superiority of a five-factor model (alogia, blunted affect, anhedonia, avolition, and asociality as defined by the NMIH-MATRICS Consensus); however, previous data primarily used the Brief Negative Symptoms Scale (BNSS). This study, including a calibration and a cross-validation sample (n = 268 and 257, respectively) of participants with schizophrenia, used the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms (CAINS) to explore the latent structure of negative symptoms and to test theoretical and data-driven (from this study) models of negative symptoms.Methods: Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was carried out to investigate the structure of negative symptoms based on the CAINS. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested in a cross-validation sample four competing theoretical (one-factor, two-factor, five-factor, and hierarchical factor) models and two EFA-derived models.Result: None of the theoretical models was confirmed with the CFA. A CAINS-rated model from EFA consisting of five factors (expression, motivation for recreational activities, social activities, vocational, and close/intimate relationships) was an excellent fit to the data (comparative fix index = 0.97, Tucker–Lewis index = 0.96, and root mean square error of approximation = 0.07).Conclusions: This study cannot support recent data on the superiority of the five-factor model defined by the NMIH-MATRICS consensus and suggests that an alternative model might be a better fit. More research to confirm the structure of negative symptoms in schizophrenia, and careful methodological consideration, should be warranted before a definitive model can put forward and shape diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia.

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (56) ◽  
pp. 293-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe Valentini ◽  
Joao Carlos Alchieri ◽  
Jacob Arie Laros

To gain more insight in family processes, psychometrically tests are required. The present study aimed to adapt a reduced version of the Young Parenting Inventory (YPI) to the Portuguese language and to obtain evidence of its validity. The instrument was administered to a sample of 920 persons (59% female) with an average age of 21.3 years. Exploratory factor analysis indicated the existence of five factors explaining approximately 45% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analysis showed fit indices above.80. In comparison with other models, the five factor model showed a better fit to the data. Between the YPI and Familiograma (another test of family processes) moderate correlations were observed. The results of this study suggest satisfactory evidence of the validity for the YPI in Brazil.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S255-S255
Author(s):  
J.F. Dourado ◽  
A.T. Pereira ◽  
C. Marques ◽  
J. Azevedo ◽  
V. Nogueira ◽  
...  

IntroductionThe Five-Factor Model organizes human personality traits under a comprehensive framework of five dimensions–neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness. The dimensions are empirical generalizations of enduring differences in behavioural, emotional and cognitive patterns between individuals. The Portuguese version of the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI-20) is increasingly used as it is the shortest version to evaluate the “Big 5”.ObjectiveTo investigate the reliability and the validity of the Portuguese version of NEO-FFI-20-item (Bertoquini & Pais Ribeiro) in a Portuguese sample, using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA).Methods747 participants [417 (55.8%) women; mean age = 42.13 ± 12.349 years] answered an online survey which included the NEO-FFI-20 and socio-demographic questions. The total sample was randomly divided in two sub-samples (sample A, n = 373; sample B, n = 374). Sample A was used to EFA and sample B was used to CFA.ResultsThe Portuguese version of NEO-FFI-20, excluding items 14 and 16, had an acceptable fit to the data (χ2/df = 2.28; TLI = .88; CFI = .90; RMSEA = .06; P = .059). The internal consistency analysis resulted in: Neuroticism, α = .68; Extraversion, α = .62; Openness to Experience, α = .74; Agreeableness, α = .70; and Conscientiousness, α = .74.ConclusionsThe NEO-FFI-20 can be used to reliably and validly evaluate the BIG FIVE in an ongoing research project on traffic psychology to better understand and respond to risky behaviours on the road.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Sternberg ◽  
J.L. Castejón ◽  
M.D. Prieto ◽  
Jarkko Hautamäki ◽  
Elena L. Grigorenko

Summary: In the current study we compare different theoretical models of the underlying structure of the STAT (Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test), Level-H, by using the techniques of confirmatory factor analysis on a combined sample of 3278 school students from the United States, Finland, and Spain. The results of the comparison of a number of models - using the strategy of hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis (HCFA) and comparing nested and alternative models, specified under different assumed theories relative to a unidimensional concept of general intelligence, a traditional factorial concept, and a triarchic model - illustrate that the second-order factor model based on the triarchic theory of intelligence achieves the best (albeit far from perfect) fit to the empirical data.


Reflexio ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-128
Author(s):  
M. V. Zlobina

The article presents the results of internal consistency and internal structure analysis on a sampleof 184 subjects of the four most widely used questionnaires of tolerance / intolerance to ambiguity: the Intolerance to Ambiguity Scale (IAS) by S. Badner, Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale (MSTAT-I and MSTAT-II) D. McLane and the Tolerance-intolerance of ambiguity new questionnaire (TAN) by T. V. Kornilova. The IAS subscales showed low internal consistency, the Tolerance-intolerance of ambiguity new questionnaire scale showed satisfactory internal consistency and the MSTAT-I and MSTAT-II scales showed high internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the five-factor model of MSTAT-I, the other models were not confirmed on our data. Exploratory factor analysis revealed unsatisfactory internal structure of the IAS, TAN, MSTAT-II. The results of the study are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 326-332
Author(s):  
Hadis Amiri ◽  
Maysam Rezapour ◽  
Mahmoud Nekoei-Moghadam ◽  
Nouzar Nakhaee

Purpose: Traumatic events and psychological damage are common, and the assessment of the growth in survivors of these events is critical. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Persian Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form (PTGI-SF). Methods: This study was conducted in five phases: (1) forward and backward translation of the questionnaire based on the WHO protocol, (2) confirmatory factor analysis to assess construct validity with 563 participations (288 women and 275 men), aged 19-84 years (mean: 33.36 years), (3) Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency, (4) correlations with the Persian version of the Duke University Religion Index (DUREL) for assessing criterion-related validity, and (5) measurement of invariance across genders. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported the five-factor model consisting of relating to others, new possibilities, personal strength, spiritual change, and appreciation of life. All the dimensions of the PTGI-SF were moderately associated with the Persian version of the DUREL. The internal reliability of the subscales and full scale of the PTGI-SF were acceptable to satisfactory, and the configural, metric, and scalar invariance was found across genders. Conclusion: The Persian version of PTGI-SF is an acceptable, valid, and reliable tool for measuring posttraumatic growth in Iran.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn Mørch-Johnsen ◽  
Runar Elle Smelror ◽  
Dimitrios Andreou ◽  
Claudia Barth ◽  
Cecilie Johannessen ◽  
...  

Background: Early-onset psychosis (EOP) is among the leading causes of disease burden in adolescents. Negative symptoms and cognitive deficits predicts poorer functional outcome. A better understanding of the association between negative symptoms and cognitive impairment may inform theories on underlying mechanisms and elucidate targets for development of new treatments. Two domains of negative symptoms have been described in adult patients with schizophrenia: apathy and diminished expression, however, the factorial structure of negative symptoms has not been investigated in EOP. We aimed to explore the factorial structure of negative symptoms and investigate associations between cognitive performance and negative symptom domains in adolescents with EOP. We hypothesized that (1) two negative symptom factors would be identifiable, and that (2) diminished expression would be more strongly associated with cognitive performance, similar to adult psychosis patients.Methods: Adolescent patients with non-affective EOP (n = 169) were included from three cohorts: Youth-TOP, Norway (n = 45), Early-Onset Study, Norway (n = 27) and Adolescent Schizophrenia Study, Mexico (n = 97). An exploratory factor analysis was performed to investigate the underlying structure of negative symptoms (measured with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)). Factor-models were further assessed using confirmatory factor analyses. Associations between negative symptom domains and six cognitive domains were assessed using multiple linear regression models controlling for age, sex and cohort. The neurocognitive domains from the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery included: speed of processing, attention, working memory, verbal learning, visual learning, and reasoning and problem solving.Results: The exploratory factor analysis of PANSS negative symptoms suggested retaining only a single factor, but a forced two factor solution corroborated previously described factors of apathy and diminished expression in adult-onset schizophrenia. Results from confirmatory factor analysis indicated a better fit for the two-factor model than for the one-factor model. For both negative symptom domains, negative symptom scores were inversely associated with verbal learning scores.Conclusion: The results support the presence of two domains of negative symptoms in EOP; apathy and diminished expression. Future studies on negative symptoms in EOP should examine putative differential effects of these symptom domains. For both domains, negative symptom scores were significantly inversely associated with verbal learning.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manoochehr Azkhosh ◽  
Ali Asgari

This study aimed to investigate the construct validity and factor structure of NEO-Five Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) in Iranian population. Participants were 1639 (780 male, 859 female) Tehran people aged 15-71. The results of explanatory factor analysis showed no notable differences between the factor structures extracted by oblique and orthogonal rotations and didn’t replicate the scoring key. The Openness and Agreeableness had more psychometric problems (low internal consistency and high deleted items). The female’s NEO-FFI factor structure (with 41 items of 60 loaded on intended factors)was clearer than males’ (with 37 items). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the male’s latent modeling of the 31-item but failed to fit the female’s model. The women scored significantly higher in the Neuroticism, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness than men who scored significantly higher in the Extraversion. As previous findings, the current results showed the NEO-FFI’s cultural limitations assessing the universality of the Five Factor Model.


Assessment ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary L. Canivez ◽  
Ryan J. McGill ◽  
Stefan C. Dombrowski ◽  
Marley W. Watkins ◽  
Alison E. Pritchard ◽  
...  

Independent exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) research with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fifth Edition (WISC-V) standardization sample has failed to provide support for the five group factors proposed by the publisher, but there have been no independent examinations of the WISC-V structure among clinical samples. The present study examined the latent structure of the 10 WISC-V primary subtests with a large ( N = 2,512), bifurcated clinical sample (EFA, n = 1,256; CFA, n = 1,256). EFA did not support five factors as there were no salient subtest factor pattern coefficients on the fifth extracted factor. EFA indicated a four-factor model resembling the WISC-IV with a dominant general factor. A bifactor model with four group factors was supported by CFA as suggested by EFA. Variance estimates from both EFA and CFA found that the general intelligence factor dominated subtest variance and omega-hierarchical coefficients supported interpretation of the general intelligence factor. In both EFA and CFA, group factors explained small portions of common variance and produced low omega-hierarchical subscale coefficients, indicating that the group factors were of poor interpretive value.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-510
Author(s):  
Namra Shahzadi ◽  
Bushra Akram ◽  
Saima Dawood ◽  
,Fayyaz Ahmad

The current study was aimed to adapt, translate and validate The Handling Bullying Questionnaire (THBQ; Bauman, Rigby & Hoppa, 2008) into Urdu language. Present study was conducted in two phases, at the first phase THBQ was translated into Urdu language through standard procedures. Linguistic equivalence between Urdu and English version scale of THBQ was found (r = 0.75**) in pilot study. In the second phase of the study psychometric properties were established through Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. A sample of 400 participants was selected for administration of scale. Exploratory Factor Analysis retrieved 6 factors solutions in 22 items. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) confirmed five factor model with 16 items. Thus, findings indicted the Urdu version of THBQ may be valid and reliable. The questionnaire can be used in future research for the assessment of handling bullying behaviors among school children by teachers and counselors.


Partner Abuse ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-97
Author(s):  
Antonella Bobbio ◽  
Karin Arbach ◽  
Thuy Nguyen Vo

The Conflict Tactics Scale 2 (CTS2) is one of the most widely used measures for assessing violence between intimate partners. Many studies exploring its psychometric properties show factor structures that vary according to samples, analysis, or scale forms employed. This work aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the CTS2 in 819 undergraduates in Argentina. Some items had to be excluded from the analysis because of their null prevalence in this sample. Confirmatory factor analysis of the original five-factor model for perpetrated and suffered violence CTS2 forms indicated a good fit to the data in both men and women. Internal consistency was good for all subscales except for the perpetrated and suffered sexual coercion and perpetrated injuries subscales. The highest inter-factor correlations were found between the psychological aggression and physical assault subscales in the perpetration models, and between the physical assault and injuries subscales in the victimization models. Practical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed, and future lines of research are proposed.


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