title: Apathy, poor verbal memory and male gender predict lower psychosocial functioning one year after the first treatment of psychosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Apathy is a negative symptom associated with poor psychosocial functioning in schizophrenia but has not been sufficiently studied as predictor of poor functioning in first episode psychosis (FEP).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The main aim of the current study was to evaluate if apathy predicts poor functioning after 1 year in FEP patients in the context of other clinical variables with influence on outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-four FEP patients completed an extensive clinical and neuro-psychological test battery at baseline and 1-year follow-up. Symptoms were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome scale (PANSS), apathy with the shortened Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES-C-12) and psychosocial functioning with the functioning score from the split version of the Global Assessment of Functioning scale (GAF-F).
  
  
  RESULTS
  High levels of apathy, poor verbal memory and being male were the baseline variables that best predicted poor functioning at 1-year follow-up, explaining 34% of the variance in GAF-F. When PANSS negative factor was included in the analysis, the significance of AES-C-12 diminished.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings points to a robust role for apathy among the negative symptoms in the development of persisting psychosocial dysfunction in FEP and supports the current effort in targeting motivation to improve functioning.
authors.affiliation: Oslo University Hospital, Ulleval, 0407 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: ann.farden@medisin.uio.no.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Faerden
authors.forename: Elizabeth Ann
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.forename: Ragnar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nesvåg
authors.forename: Svein
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Friis
authors.forename: Arnstein
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Finset
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Marder
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.forename: Ole A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Andreassen
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Agartz
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Melle
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D057565:Apathy; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Apathy; Functional outcome; Male gender; Negative symptoms; Predictors; Psychosis; Verbal memory