Negative symptoms, cognition, and community functioning in early psychosis

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Behavioral Science
• Neuroscience
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Negative symptoms in psychosis are linked to impaired cognition and community functioning, even early in illness.
• Specific negative symptom subdomains' impact on cognition and functioning in early psychosis remains understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the associations between specific negative symptom subdomains, cognition, and functioning in early psychosis.
• To determine if negative symptoms or cognition predict future functioning in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) or mood disorders with psychosis (MDP).

Main Methods:

• Assessed 67 participants (SSD and MDP) within 6.5 years of illness onset on negative symptoms (BNSS, CAINS), cognition, and functioning at two timepoints.
• Conducted group comparisons, correlations, and linear regression analyses to examine relationships and predictive value.

Main Results:

• No group differences in negative symptoms or cognition were found between SSD and MDP groups.
• Negative symptoms (BNSS, CAINS total scores and subscales) correlated with cognition transdiagnostically.
• Baseline negative symptoms, specifically amotivation and anhedonia, predicted functioning at follow-up, while cognition did not.

Conclusions:

• Amotivation and anhedonia, key negative symptoms, are significant predictors of functioning in early psychosis.
• Early interventions targeting motivation and hedonic capacity could improve long-term community functioning in individuals with psychosis.