title: Next-generation negative symptom assessment for clinical trials: validation of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale.
abstract: The current study examined the psychometric properties of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS), a next-generation rating instrument developed in response to the NIMH sponsored consensus development conference on negative symptoms. Participants included 100 individuals with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who completed a clinical interview designed to assess negative, positive, disorganized, and general psychiatric symptoms, as well as functional outcome. A battery of anhedonia questionnaires and neuropsychological tests were also administered. Results indicated that the BNSS has excellent internal consistency and temporal stability, as well as good convergent and discriminant validity in its relationships with other symptom rating scales, functional outcome, self-reported anhedonia, and neuropsychological test scores. Given its brevity (13-items, 15-minute interview) and good psychometric characteristics, the BNSS can be considered a promising new instrument for use in clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Baltimore, MD 21228, USA. gstrauss@mprc.umaryland.edu
authors.forename: Gregory P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Strauss
authors.forename: William R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Buchanan
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.forename: Bernard A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: McMahon
authors.forename: Lauren T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Catalano
authors.forename: Adam J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Culbreth
authors.forename: William T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kirkpatrick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D010054:Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology