Anhedonia Linked to Negative, Positive Symptoms in Schizophrenia

MONDAY, Sept. 19, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Anhedonia has connections with negative and positive symptoms and functional domains in schizophrenia, according to a study published online Aug. 17 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Samuel J. Abplanalp, Ph.D., from the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, and colleagues examined the interplay and structure of positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and functional domains in individuals with schizophrenia using network analysis and community detection methods. The final analysis included 979 patients from five geographically distributed research centers in the United States.

The researchers found that in the comprehensive network analysis, anhedonia had the highest expected influence, showing connections with negative and positive symptoms and functional domains. The lowest expected influence was seen for positive symptoms. The presence of three clusters was indicated in a community detection analysis, corresponding to positive symptoms; negative symptoms and work functioning; and functional domains such as independent living, family relationships, social network, avolition, anhedonia, and work functioning. In 100 percent of bootstrapped samples, hallucinations and delusions were replicated, while bizarre behavior and thought disorder were replicated in 39 and 57 percent, respectively. Negative symptoms and work functioning were replicated in 73 and 77 percent of samples, respectively, and the remaining functional domains were replicated in 94 percent of samples.

"Anhedonia showed connections with multiple functional domains, demonstrated high centrality, and loaded highly on all communities, making anhedonia a viable target for interventions focused on multiple functional domains," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

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