title: Self-reported ambivalence in schizophrenia and associations with negative mood.
abstract: One instrument potentially useful for schizophrenia research is the Revised Schizotypal Ambivalence Scale (rSAmb). However, previous research has not examined the construct validity of this instrument in people with schizophrenia. In the current study, people with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (n = 47) and bipolar disorder (BPD; n = 19) completed the rSAmb along with current symptom and other clinical data. As a group, the people with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder reported significantly less ambivalence on the rSAmb than did the people with BPD. In addition, the rSAmb was not significantly related to any schizophrenia symptom (all correlations < 0.15). Instead, the rSAmb was significantly associated with negative mood symptoms in the past week, a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder rather than schizophrenia, and the number of negative terms used in speech. These results suggest that the rSAmb may be associated with negative mood and not with schizophrenia, although systematic examination of larger cohorts is warranted.
authors.affiliation: *Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University; †Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI; ‡Department of Psychiatry, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle; §Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia.
authors.forename: Anna R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Docherty
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Cicero
authors.forename: Theresa M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Kerns
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010045:Outpatients; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D018401:Sample Size; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors