EXPERIENCE OF NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS - COMPARISON OF SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENTS TO PATIENTS WITH A DEPRESSIVE DISORDER AND TO NORMAL SUBJECTS

Objective: Three hypotheses were tested: 1) schizophrenic patients wou ld report more impairments on a self-rating scale for negative symptom s than normal subjects and attribute higher levels of distress to thes e impairments, 2) schizophrenic patients would report fewer impairment s than patients with a depressive disorder attribute lower levels of d istress to these impairments, and 3) schizophrenic patients would attr ibute their impairments less often to mental illness than would patien ts with a depressive disorder. Method: A self-rating scale for negativ e symptoms was administered to 86 patients with schizophrenia, 20 pati ents with a depressive disorder, and 33 normal subjects. The scale ite ms were derived from the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS). Two psychiatrists also rated all of the patients on the SANS. Results: The hypotheses were supported. The differences between the t wo groups of-patients in the rates of reported impairments anti the le vels of reported distress remained statistically significant after con trol for differences in age, sex, length of current admission, length of illness, dose of neuroleptic medication, use of clozapine, and seve rity of negative symptoms. Conclusions: The results suggest that a lar ge number of schizophrenic patients are somewhat aware of negative sym ptoms but that they are less aware of these impairments and less conce rned about them than are patients with a depressive disorder.