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Early career psychiatrists’ ability to evaluate and manage negative symptoms of schizophrenia – Results from a European survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2025

Anna Julia Krupa*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological and Community Psychiatry, Jagiellonian University Medical College Krakow, Poland
Marcin Siwek
Affiliation:
Department of Biological and Community Psychiatry, Jagiellonian University Medical College Krakow, Poland
Tomasz Gondek
Affiliation:
Institute of Social Studies, University of Lower Silesia, Wroclaw, Poland
Gaia Sampogna
Affiliation:
University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy
Renato de Filippis
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Unit, Department of Health Sciences, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
Aistė Lengvenytė
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Psychiatry and Acute Care, Lapeyronie Hospital, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France Institute of Functional Genomics, University of Montpellier, CNRS, INSERM, Montpellier, France
Beren Özel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Mus State Hospital, Türkiye
Cristiana Tăpoi
Affiliation:
Department of General Psychiatry, Alexandru Obregia Clinical Psychiatry Hospital, Bucharest, Romania
Visnja Banjac Baljak
Affiliation:
Clinic of Psychiatry, University Clinical Center of the Republic of Srpska, Banjaluka, Bosnia and Herzegovina Faculty of Medicine, University of Banjaluka, Banjaluka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Stefan Jerotic
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Ruta Karaliuniene
Affiliation:
Rheinmosel Fachklinik, Landeskrankenhaus, Academic Hospital at Mainz University, Germany
Jesper Nørgaard Kjær
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Psychosis Research Unit, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
Giulio Longo
Affiliation:
Unit of Clinical Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Neurosciences/DIMSC, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
Petra Marinova-Djambazova
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria
Sara Medved
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb: Zagreb, Croatia
Miloš Milutinović
Affiliation:
University Clinic of Psychiatry, Skopje, North Macedonia
Inés Oliveira
Affiliation:
Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain
Dorottya Őri
Affiliation:
Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary Department of Mental Health, Heim Pal National Pediatric Institute, Budapest, Hungary
Mariana Pinto da Costa
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Diego Quattrone
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience, London, United Kingdom
Jördis Rausch
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Illnesses, Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Freiburg, Germany
Georgios Schoretsanitis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland The Zucker Hillside Hospital, Psychiatry Research, Northwell Health, Glen Oaks, NY, USA Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, NY, USA
Ekin Sönmez Güngör
Affiliation:
Erenköy Mental Health and Neurological Diseases Training and Research Hospital, Department, Istanbul, Turkey
Asilay Seker
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
Zbigniew Sołtys
Affiliation:
Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Laboratory of Experimental Neuropathology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
Anna Szczegielniak
Affiliation:
Department of Psychoprophylaxis, Faculty of Medical Sciences in ZabrzeMedical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
Jelena Vrublevska
Affiliation:
Department of Neuromedicine and Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia Scientific Institute of Mental Health, National Centre of Mental Health, Riga, Latvia
Michael Wallies
Affiliation:
Therapie auf Augenhohe, Zurich, Switzerland
Dominika Dudek
Affiliation:
Department of Adult Psychiatry, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
Andrea Fagiolini
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, Division of Psychiatry, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
Armida Mucci*
Affiliation:
University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy
Silvana Galderisi
Affiliation:
University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy
*
Corresponding authors: Anna Julia Krupa and Armida Mucci; Emails: anna43.krupa@uj.edu.pl; armida.mucci@unicampania.it
Corresponding authors: Anna Julia Krupa and Armida Mucci; Emails: anna43.krupa@uj.edu.pl; armida.mucci@unicampania.it

Abstract

Background

Negative symptoms (NS) represent an important unmet need in schizophrenia (SZ) assessment and management. Despite NS are strongly associated with poorer functioning and quality of life, they are frequently underrecognized, inconsistently evaluated, and show limited response to current treatments. Although specific assessment tools and European Psychiatric Association (EPA) guidance on NS have been developed, their impact on routine clinical practice appears limited. This study aimed to investigate the competence and confidence of European Early Career Psychiatrists (ECPs) in NS evaluation and management.

Methods

The CARE project was a cross-sectional online survey directed towards ECPs from European countries.

Results

828 ECPs’ responses were collected from 19 countries. The majority of ECPs were trainees (65.8%), reported theoretical training in negative symptoms (NS) and placements in schizophrenia-specialized settings (67.9% and 70.3%), while about half reported extracurricular NS training (51.1%) and involvement in clinical research (46.1%). Only 11% correctly identified NS domains, despite 65.7% felt well-trained in NS assessment tools. Just 15.9% correctly answered questions based on the EPA guidance papers. 46.7% and 25.9% ECPs reported feeling competent in NS evaluation and management, respectively. Gender (men) specialist status, research involvement, theoretical NS training, and placements in specialized SZ services predicted perceived competence. However, in-depth NS knowledge was predicted only by specialist status, engagement in clinical research, and extracurricular NS training.

Conclusions

Despite reported exposure to NS training, ECPs demonstrated limited knowledge of NS. Actions need to be taken to ensure that ECPs receive the highest standard of training in NS.

Information

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association
Figure 0

Table 1. Demographic and training characteristics of participants

Figure 1

Figure 1. ECPs’ knowledge, skills, and implementation of guidance papers on NS evaluation and management. CANMAT, Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments; EPA, European Psychiatric Association; NS, negative symptoms; WFSBP, World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry.

Figure 2

Figure 2. ECPs self-reported sense of competence in NS evaluation and management, and need for more emphasis on the NS in specialist training. NS, negative symptoms.

Figure 3

Figure 3. Model 1 predictors of knowledge on NS. The demographics/training characteristics potentially predictive of knowledge on NS are listed on the left side of the figure. The characteristics with an odds ratio greater than 1 (a coefficient beta greater than 0) are statistically significant predictors of knowledge on NS. If the visual representation of the odds ratio/B coefficient crosses the red line, it means the tested demographic/training variable is not significantly linked to the knowledge of NS. If the visual representation of the odds ration/B coefficient is localized at the right side of the red line, it means the tested variable is positively linked to the sense of competence in NS evaluation/management. ECPs, early career psychiatrists; NS, negative symptoms, SZ, schizophrenia.

Figure 4

Figure 4. Model 2 predictors of sense of competence. The demographics/training characteristics potentially predictive of sense of competence in NS evaluation and management are listed on the left side of the figure. The characteristics with an odds ratio over 1 (coefficient beta over 0) are statistically significant predictors of sense of competence in NS evaluation and management. If the visual representation of the odds ratio/B coefficient crosses the red line, it means the tested demographic/training variable is not significantly linked to the sense of competence in NS evaluation/ management. If the visual representation of the odds ration/B coefficient is localized at the right side of the red line, it means the tested variable is positively linked to the sense of competence in NS evaluation/management. ECPs, early career psychiatrists; NS, negative symptoms; SZ, schizophrenia.

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