Subtyping schizophrenia: A comparison of positive/negative and system-specific approaches

Lang, F U; Walther, Sebastian; Stegmayer, K.; Anderson-Schmidt, H; Schulze, T G; Becker, T; Jäger, M (2015). Subtyping schizophrenia: A comparison of positive/negative and system-specific approaches. Comprehensive psychiatry, 61, pp. 115-121. Elsevier 10.1016/j.comppsych.2015.05.014

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BACKGROUND

Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous disorder. Over the years, different approaches have been proposed to approach this heterogeneity by categorizing symptom patterns. The study aimed to compare positive/negative and system-specific approaches to subtyping.

METHODS

We used the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Bern Psychopathology Scale (BPS), which consists of subscales for three domains (language, affect and motor behavior) that are hypothesized to be related to specific brain circuits, to assess cross-sectional psychopathological characteristics in a sample of 100 inpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. We then categorized participants into positive/negative and system-specific subgroups to allow comparisons of the two approaches.

RESULTS

The analyses revealed correlations between the PANSS positive subscore and the BPS affective subscore (r=.446, p<.001) and between the PANSS negative subscore and the BPS motor behavior subscore (r=.227, p=.023). As regards the positive and negative subtype, more participants were classified as positive in the language-dominant subtype (30.3%) and affect-dominant subtype (30.3%), whereas more were classified as negative in the motor behavior-dominant subtype (44.4%). However, most patients met the criteria for the mixed subtype.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that the positive/negative and system-specific approaches can be regarded as complementary. Future studies should examine both approaches in a longitudinal assessment of psychopathological symptoms and link them with qualitative-phenomenological approaches.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > University Psychiatric Services > University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
04 Faculty of Medicine > University Psychiatric Services > University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy > Management

UniBE Contributor:

Walther, Sebastian, Stegmayer, Katharina Deborah Lena

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

0010-440X

Publisher:

Elsevier

Language:

English

Submitter:

Sebastian Walther

Date Deposited:

18 Aug 2015 08:56

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:48

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.comppsych.2015.05.014

PubMed ID:

26104431

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.70808

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/70808

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