title: The Lille Apathy Rating Scale (LARS): exploring its psychometric properties in schizophrenia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Apathy in schizophrenia patients is linked to marked functional impairments and can be defined as a quantitative reduction of voluntary, goal-directed behaviors. If there are now convincing arguments to consider apathy as a multidimensional psychopathological state (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral), there is a lack of validated and standardized instruments for detecting apathy and assessing its multidimensional aspects in schizophrenia. The Lille Apathy Rating Scale (LARS) is a semi-structured interview, yielding a global score and composite subscores for the different domains of apathy and has been validated in several different contexts but not in schizophrenia patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the LARS and identify the distinct components of apathy in a sample of schizophrenia patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred-and-twelve schizophrenia patients were included and they completed the LARS, The Calgary Depression Scale in Schizophrenia, the Positive and the Negative Syndrome Scale and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms. The patient group was compared to 51 healthy control subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Principal component analysis showed that the LARS proved a single construct which forms the root of an oblique factor structure reflecting four dimensions: novelty and social life, behavioral involvement, emotional involvement, and judgment skills. The main psychometric properties of the LARS were satisfactory.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings show that the LARS has satisfactory psychometric properties when used in a different setting than the original version. The LARS is a promising instrument to examine apathy in schizophrenia through a multidimensional framework.
authors.affiliation: Epsylon EA 4556 Laboratory of Dynamics of Human Abilities & Health Behaviors, University of Montpellier, France; University Department of Adult Psychiatry, Hospital La Colombière, CHRU Montpellier, 39 avenue Charles Flahault, 34295 Montpellier Cedex 5, France. Electronic address: yazbek.hanan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hanan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yazbek
authors.affiliation: University Department of Adult Psychiatry, Hospital La Colombière, CHRU Montpellier, 39 avenue Charles Flahault, 34295 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Norton
authors.affiliation: INSERM U-1061, France; University Department of Adult Psychiatry, Hospital La Colombière, CHRU Montpellier, 39 avenue Charles Flahault, 34295 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Capdevielle
authors.affiliation: University Department of Adult Psychiatry, Hospital La Colombière, CHRU Montpellier, 39 avenue Charles Flahault, 34295 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Larue
authors.affiliation: INSERM U-1061, France; University Department of Adult Psychiatry, Hospital La Colombière, CHRU Montpellier, 39 avenue Charles Flahault, 34295 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Boulenger
authors.affiliation: Epsylon EA 4556 Laboratory of Dynamics of Human Abilities & Health Behaviors, University of Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Christine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gély-Nargeot
authors.affiliation: Epsylon EA 4556 Laboratory of Dynamics of Human Abilities & Health Behaviors, University of Montpellier, France; University Department of Adult Psychiatry, Hospital La Colombière, CHRU Montpellier, 39 avenue Charles Flahault, 34295 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raffard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D057565:Apathy; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D012372:ROC Curve; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Apathy; Exploratory factorial analysis; Lille Apathy Rating Scale (LARS); Schizophrenia