Language in interaction: turn-taking patterns in conversations involving individuals with schizophrenia

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Linguistics

Background:

• Individuals with schizophrenia often experience interpersonal communication difficulties.
• While speech atypicalities are studied, conversational interaction management remains underexplored.
• The link between linguistic features, psychopathology, and subjective experiences in schizophrenia needs further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze conversational interaction management in individuals with schizophrenia.
• To investigate the relationship between turn-taking patterns, psychopathology, and subjective experiences.
• To identify unique conversational behaviors in schizophrenia.

Main Methods:

• Dyadic conversations between 29 individuals with schizophrenia and 29 controls with medical doctors were recorded.
• Turn-taking patterns were quantified using high-quality stereo recordings.
• Psychopathology and subjective experiences were assessed using PANSS, EASE, ARS, and ABPq.

Main Results:

• Conversations involving individuals with schizophrenia showed different turn-taking patterns compared to controls.
• Higher levels of speech overlap and mutual silence were observed in dialogues with patients.
• Mutual silence correlated with negative symptom severity, but no dialogical features correlated with anomalous subjective experiences.

Conclusions:

• Individuals with schizophrenia display peculiar turn-taking behaviors during conversations.
• These findings enhance the understanding of interactional coordination challenges in schizophrenia.
• The study highlights the importance of analyzing conversational dynamics in schizophrenia research.