Negative symptoms and the early course of schizophrenia.
To determine the usefulness of including a duration criterion in the definition of "negative" symptoms, the prognostic significance of a longitudinally obtained measure of negative symptoms was compared with a cross-sectionally obtained measure. As predicted, the presence of negative symptoms based on longitudinal observation was associated with most aspects of 18-month course in a group of "first-episode" schizophrenic individuals, whereas cross-sectional levels of negative symptoms were not. The findings suggest that negative symptoms, when operationalized as a trait-like phenomenon, help to portend a poor course of illness.
Husted
J A
JA
Department of Health Studies, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Beiser
M
M
Iacono
W G
WG
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012917:Social Adjustment