Affective lability across psychosis spectrum disorders

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Individuals with psychotic disorders often have functional impairments despite clinical remission.
• Affective dysregulation is a known risk factor for poor outcomes in mental health but is understudied in psychosis.
• Research on affective lability (AL) in schizophrenia is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate affective lability (AL) levels in schizophrenia and bipolar spectrum disorders.
• To compare AL in patients versus healthy controls.
• To identify clinical correlates of AL within diagnostic groups.

Main Methods:

• The Affective Lability Scale (ALS-SF) measured total AL and subscores (anxiety/depression, depression/elation, anger).
• Analysis of covariance compared groups, controlling for confounders.
• Multiple regression analyses explored AL relationships with demographic and clinical features.

Main Results:

• Both schizophrenia and bipolar spectrum groups showed significantly higher ALS-SF scores than controls (p < 0.001).
• No significant differences in AL were found between the patient groups.
• In schizophrenia, current psychotic and depressive symptoms were independently associated with higher AL (p = 0.012, p = 0.024).

Conclusions:

• Affective lability (AL) is elevated across psychotic disorders, transcending diagnostic boundaries.
• Findings suggest AL may be a shared feature in schizophrenia and bipolar spectrum disorders.
• Further research is needed to explore AL as a therapeutic target in psychosis spectrum disorders.