Subjective experiences in psychotic disorders: diagnostic value and clinical correlates

This study evaluated the prevalence and clinical correlates of abnormal subjective experiences across functional psychotic disorders. Patients were recruited from consecutive admissions with the following diagnoses; schizophrenia (n = 40), schizophreniform disorder (n = 40), schizoaffective disorder (n = 21), mood disorder (n = 18), brief reactive psychosis (n = 15), and atypical psychosis (n = 16). Subjective experiences were assessed using the Frankfurt Complaint Questionnaire (FCQ), and the clinical status was assessed with the Scales for the Assessment of Positive and Negative Symptoms (SAPS and SANS) and the Manual for the Assessment and Documentation of Psychopathology (AMDP). Neither the FCQ total score nor individual subjective experiences displayed significant differences across diagnoses. When the clinical predictors of subjective experiences were studied by multiple regression analyses, a different pattern resulted for individual psychotic disorders. In schizophrenic patients, subjective experiences were predicted by female gender, euphoria, lack of insight, greater illness severity, and more positive symptoms. The only predictors of subjective experiences in the schizophreniform disorder group were the negative symptoms. Within the affective disorders group, subjective experiences had no clinical predictors.