Factor structure of the Bern Psychopathology Scale in a sample of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Lang, Fabian U; Stierlin, Annabel S; Stegmayer, Katharina; Walther, Sebastian; Becker, Thomas; Jäger, Markus (2015). Factor structure of the Bern Psychopathology Scale in a sample of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. European psychiatry, 30(7), pp. 880-884. Elsevier Masson SAS 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2015.07.010

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BACKGROUND

The Bern Psychopathology Scale (BPS) is based on a system-specific approach to classifying the psychopathological symptom pattern of schizophrenia. It consists of subscales for three domains (language, affect and motor behaviour) that are hypothesized to be related to specific brain circuits. The aim of the study was to examine the factor structure of the BPS in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

METHODS

One hundred and forty-nine inpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were recruited at the Department of Psychiatry II, Ulm University, Germany (n=100) and at the University Hospital of Psychiatry, Bern, Switzerland (n=49). Psychopathology was assessed with the BPS. The VARCLUS procedure of SAS(®) (a type of oblique component analysis) was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

Six clusters were identified (inhibited language, inhibited motor behaviour, inhibited affect, disinhibited affect, disinhibited language/motor behaviour, inhibited language/motor behaviour) which explained 40.13% of the total variance of the data. A binary division of attributes into an inhibited and disinhibited cluster was appropriate, although an overlap was found between the language and motor behaviour domains. There was a clear distinction between qualitative and quantitative symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

The results argue for the validity of the BPS in identifying subsyndromes of schizophrenia spectrum disorders according to a dimensional approach. Future research should address the longitudinal assessment of dimensional psychopathological symptoms and elucidate the underlying neurobiological processes.

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 > Psychiatric Neurophysiology [discontinued]

UniBE Contributor:

Stegmayer, Katharina Deborah Lena, Walther, Sebastian

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

0924-9338

Publisher:

Elsevier Masson SAS

Language:

English

Submitter:

Sebastian Walther

Date Deposited:

20 Oct 2015 12:01

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:49

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2015.07.010

PubMed ID:

26443057

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Bern Psychopathology Scale; Factor analysis; Schizophrenia spectrum disorders; System-specific approach

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.72302

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/72302

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