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The structure stability of negative symptoms: longitudinal network analysis of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale in subjects with schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2023

E. Caporusso ,
G. M. Giordano ,
A. Mucci ,
P. Rucci ,
F. Sanmarchi ,
L. Giuliani ,
A. Perrottelli ,
P. Pezzella ,
P. Bucci  and
P. Rocca
...Show all authors
E. Caporusso*
Affiliation:
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples
G. M. Giordano
Affiliation:
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples
A. Mucci
Affiliation:
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples
P. Rucci
Affiliation:
2Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna
F. Sanmarchi
Affiliation:
2Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna
L. Giuliani
Affiliation:
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples
A. Perrottelli
Affiliation:
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples
P. Pezzella
Affiliation:
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples
P. Bucci
Affiliation:
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples
P. Rocca
Affiliation:
3Department of Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, University of Turin, Turin
A. Rossi
Affiliation:
4Section of Psychiatry, Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila
A. Bertolino
Affiliation:
5Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari ‘Aldo Moro’, Bari, Italy
S. Galderisi
Affiliation:
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples
M. Maj
Affiliation:
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Negative symptoms (NS) represent an unmet need of treatment in schizophrenia (SCZ). As a result, these symptoms pose a significant burden on patients, their families, and the health care system. In the last decade, the conceptualization model that has received the most support from the literature has described 2 domains of NS: the expressive deficit (EXP), which includes blunted affect and alogia, and the motivational deficit (MAP), which includes avolition, asociality, and anhedonia. However, different confirmatory factor-analytic studies suggest that the bi-dimensional model may not capture the complexity of this construct, which could be better defined by the 5-factor model. To date no study exploiting innovative tools and state of the art assessment instruments has yet been conducted to evaluate the NS structure stability over time.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to investigate the stability of the latent structure of NS in subjects with SCZ.

Methods

NS were assessed in 612 subjects with SCZ using the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS) at the baseline and after 4-year follow-up. A network invariance analysis was conducted for the data collected longitudinally.

Results

Results showed that the BNSS’ items aggregated to form 5 distinct domains (avolition, asociality, blunted affect, alogia and anhedonia). The result of the network invariance test indicated that the network structure remained unchanged over time (network invariance test = 0.13; p = 0.169) while its overall strength decreased significantly (6.28 baseline, 5.79 at follow-up; global strength invariance test = 0.48; p = 0.016).

Conclusions

The results of this study show how the construct of NS can be better explained by the 5 individual negative symptoms and that this model is almost stable over time. Therefore the 2-dimensional model may be insufficient to describe the characteristics of NS. This data is of important relevance with consequent implications in the study of pathophysiological mechanisms and the development of targeted treatments for NS.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 66 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry , March 2023 , pp. S259 - S260
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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