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From Subjective Impression to Objective Measure: The Nonverbal Foundations of the Praecox Feeling
Victor Vattier1,2, Ludovic Marin3, Richard Schmidt4
1University Paul Valery of Montpellier, EPSYLON EA 4556, Montpellier, France, victor.vattier@univ-montp3.fr.
Psychopathology
|June 1, 2026
Summary
Clinicians' immediate sense of disturbed interpersonal contact in schizophrenia, known as Praecox Feeling, is linked to reduced gestural behavior. This suggests objective movement markers can help understand early social interaction disturbances.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
- Social Neuroscience
Background:
- Praecox Feeling describes clinicians' immediate sense of disturbed interpersonal contact with individuals with schizophrenia.
- This subjective experience is indirectly measured by the PANSS Poor rapport item.
- The specific behavioral underpinnings of this phenomenon are not well-defined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if objectively quantified gestural behavior during initial interactions correlates with clinician-rated Poor rapport.
- To determine if interaction partners modify their nonverbal behavior when engaging with individuals with schizophrenia.
Main Methods:
- Participants engaged in first-contact interactions with individuals with schizophrenia (ISZ) and matched controls (MAT).
- Gestural expansiveness was objectively measured using automatic motion tracking.
- Clinician-rated Poor rapport was assessed via a standardized PANSS interview by an independent psychiatrist.
Main Results:
- Reduced gestural expansiveness in individuals with schizophrenia was associated with higher clinician-rated Poor rapport.
- No significant difference in gestural expansiveness was found between ISZ and MAT groups.
- Interaction partners exhibited reduced gestural expansiveness when interacting with ISZ.
Conclusions:
- Objectively measured gesture kinematics correlate with clinician-assessed interpersonal disturbance.
- Praecox Feeling may stem from clinicians' sensitivity to subtle, measurable changes in embodied interpersonal dynamics.
- Disturbed social contact appears to be a dyadic phenomenon, not solely an individual behavior, and objective movement markers can refine this construct.
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