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Psychological and Social Aspects of Negative Symptoms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2018

John S. Strauss
Affiliation:
Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Jaak Rakfeldt
Affiliation:
Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Courtenay M. Harding
Affiliation:
Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Paul Lieberman
Affiliation:
Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Extract

Our reintroduction of the concept of negative symptoms in schizophrenia (Strauss et al, 1974) has been followed by much productive research on this topic. As in the work of Andreason, Crowe, and others, the focus of most of this research has been on improving descriptive assessments of these symptoms (Andreason, 1982) and exploring their biological correlates (Crowe, 1981). This work has been extremely important, but psychological and social aspects of negative symptoms are also important (Barton, 1959; Wing & Brown, 1970; Gruenberg, 1967), and in these areas there has been little research. Nevertheless, it is crucial to explore possible psychological and social factors in negative symptoms in order to understand the symptoms more fully and to provide a basis for more adequate prevention and treatment. It is also important to clarify psychological and social factors in these symptoms to provide a basis for more effective biological research, since the heterogeneity of negative symptoms at a psychological level could hide significant biological correlates.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1989 

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