Year: 2016
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Negative symptoms – reductions in expression, motivation, pleasure and sociability \n– are observed across the spectrum of functional psychoses. They have been \nidentified as a significant predictor of poor outcomes following first-episode \npsychosis and are a treatment priority for individuals with lived-experience of \npsychosis. However, the mechanisms underlying negative symptoms remain poorly \nunderstood. This thesis aims to contribute to our understanding of negative \nsymptoms in the early phase of psychosis using a mixed methods approach. \nParticipants in the EDEN study (n = 1006) were followed up for 12 months \nfollowing acceptance into UK Early Intervention in Psychosis services. Negative \nsymptom severity data were modelled using latent class growth analysis, allowing \nlatent classes comprising individuals with similar patterns of change in negative \nsymptoms severity over time to be identified. Predictors of latent class membership \nwere ascertained and the relationship between negative symptom trajectories and \nconcurrent social recovery explored. Subsequently, transcripts of qualitative \ninterviews conducted with a subsample (n = 24) of the cohort were analysed \nthematically. Comparisons were made between the accounts of members of the \nidentified latent classes. Experiences and personal understandings of negative \nsymptoms, psychosis, treatment and recovery were explored, providing insights into \npotential mechanisms underlying negative symptoms and their relationship with \nsocial recovery. \nThe quantitative and qualitative findings were integrated and interpreted in relation \nto existing research and theory. Together they informed the development of a \nconceptual model of negative symptoms and their relationship with poor social \nrecovery following first-episode psychosis. The model suggests that active \npsychological processes may be important to negative symptoms and their \ncontribution to poor social recovery. It is proposed that offering tailored \npsychosocial interventions at the earliest stage of disorder – after the onset of nonspecific \nnegative symptoms but before the emergence of attenuated positive \nsymptoms – may be warranted to improve outcomes following psychosis onset. \n
Author: Brioney Gee
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2740539336