Psychopathology of Schizophrenia: initial validation of a 5-factor model.
Schizophrenic psychopathology is heterogeneous and multidimensional. One of the more fruitful strategies to investigate more homogenous domains of psychopathology has been the positive-negative syndrome approach. However, this approach is unable to address a number of important issues. Most schizophrenics present a mixed syndrome; the criteria for what constitutes a positive and negative syndrome are variable; distinguishing primary from secondary negative symptoms can be difficult. In order to address some of these problems, we propose the introduction of a 5-syndrome model based on a reanalysis of factor-analytic procedures used on 240 schizophrenics assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale: A negative, positive, excitement, cognitive and depression/anxiety factor. This 5-factor solution is supported by 4 independent and comparable factor analyses. Data on internal consistency of the 5 factors and on initial validation using demographic and clinical variables are presented.
Lindenmayer
J P
JP
Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, New York, N.Y.
Bernstein-Hyman
R
R
Grochowski
S
S
Bark
N
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology