title: Negative symptoms and functioning during the first year after a recent onset of schizophrenia and 8 years later.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Understanding the longitudinal course of negative symptoms, especially in relationship to functioning, in the early phase of schizophrenia is crucial to developing intervention approaches. The course of negative symptoms and daily functioning was examined over a 1-year period following a recent onset of schizophrenia and at an 8-year follow-up point.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 149 recent-onset schizophrenia patients who had a mean age of 23.7 (SD=4.4)years and mean education of 12.9 (SD=2.2)years. Negative symptom (BPRS and SANS) and functional outcome (SCORS) assessments were conducted frequently by trained raters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After antipsychotic medication stabilization, negative symptoms during the first outpatient year were moderately stable (BPRS ICC=0.64 and SANS ICC=0.66). Despite this overall moderate stability, 24% of patients experienced at least one period of negative symptoms exacerbation. Furthermore, entry level of negative symptoms was significantly associated with poor social functioning (r=-.34, p<.01) and work/school functioning (r=-.25, p<.05) at 12months, and with negative symptoms at the 8-year follow-up (r=.29, p<.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Early negative symptoms are fairly stable during the first outpatient year, are predictors of daily functioning at 12months, and predict negative symptoms 8years later. Despite the high levels of stability, negative symptoms did fluctuate in a subsample of patients. These findings suggest that negative symptoms may be an important early course target for intervention aimed at promoting recovery.
authors.affiliation: UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: jventura@ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.affiliation: UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Subotnik
authors.affiliation: UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gitlin
authors.affiliation: UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gretchen-Doorly
authors.affiliation: UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Arielle
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ered
authors.affiliation: Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Villa
authors.affiliation: UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Gerhard S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Hellemann
authors.affiliation: UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Department of Psychology, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Keith H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Nuechterlein
mesh_terms: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012574:Schools; D012919:Social Behavior; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents
keywords: BPRS; Functional outcome; Intraclass correlation coefficient; Long-term follow-up; Negative symptoms; SANS; Schizophrenia; Symptom exacerbation