Expanding the positivity offset theory of anhedonia to the psychosis continuum.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Riehle M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9261090 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:BackgroundNegative symptoms of schizophrenia have recently been proposed to result from a decoupling of (intact) hedonic experience and (diminished) approach behavior. The current study challenged this view by exploring the hypothesis that negative symptoms are driven by a specific type of emotional experience abnormality, a reduction in the positivity offset (i.e. the tendency to experience greater levels of positive relative to negative emotion in low-arousal contexts), which limits the production of approach behaviors in neutral environments.MethodsParticipants included outpatients with SZ (n = 44) and healthy controls (CN: n = 48) who completed one week of active (ecological momentary assessment surveys of emotional experience and symptoms) and passive (geolocation, accelerometry) digital phenotyping. Mathematical modeling approaches from Cacioppo's Evaluative Space Model were used to quantify the positivity offset in daily life. Negative symptoms were assessed via standard clinical ratings, as well as active (EMA surveys) and passive (geolocation, accelerometry) digital phenotyping measures.ResultsResults indicated that the positivity offset was reduced in SZ and associated with more severe anhedonia and avolition measured via clinical interviews and active and passive digital phenotyping.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that current conceptual models of negative symptoms, which assume hedonic normality, may need to be revised to account for reductions in the positivity offset and its connection to diminished motivated behavior. Findings identify key real-world contexts where negative symptoms could be targeted using psychosocial treatments.
| S-EPMC10600929 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Genomic offset statistics predict the maladaptation of populations to rapid habitat alteration based on association of genotypes with environmental variation. Despite substantial evidence for empirical validity, genomic offset statistics have well-identified limitations, and lack a theory that would facilitate interpretations of predicted values. Here, we clarified the theoretical relationships between genomic offset statistics and unobserved fitness traits controlled by environmentally selected loci and proposed a geometric measure to predict fitness after rapid change in local environment. The predictions of our theory were verified in computer simulations and in empirical data on African pearl millet (Cenchrus americanus) obtained from a common garden experiment. Our results proposed a unified perspective on genomic offset statistics and provided a theoretical foundation necessary when considering their potential application in conservation management in the face of environmental change.
| S-EPMC10306404 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundIt is unclear whether psychotic experiences (PEs) gradually merge into states of clinical psychosis along a continuum which correspond to a dimensional classification or whether latent classes appear above a certain severity threshold which correspond better to diagnostic categories of psychosis.MethodsAnnual cross-sectional surveys, 2014-19, among Chinese undergraduates (N = 47,004) measured PEs, depression and etiological risk factors using standardized self-report instruments. We created a psychosis continuum with five levels and tested linear and extra-linear contrasts in associated etiological risk factors, before and after adjustment for depression. We carried out latent class analysis.ResultsCategorical expression of psychosis, including hallucinations and delusions, nuclear symptoms, and nuclear symptoms and depression were found at severe level 5. Etiological risk factors which impacted linearly across the continuum were more common for depression. Child maltreatment impacted extra-linearly on both psychosis and depression. Family history of psychosis impacted linearly on psychosis; male sex and urban birth impacted extra-linearly and were specific for psychosis. Four latent classes were found, but only at level 5. These corresponded to nuclear schizophrenia symptoms, nuclear schizophrenia and depressive symptoms, severe depression, and an unclassified category with moderate prevalence of PEs.ConclusionQuantitative and qualitative changes in the underlying structure of psychosis were observed at the most severe level along a psychosis continuum, where four latent classes emerged. These corresponded to existing categorical classifications but require confirmation with clinical interview. PEs are non-specific and our findings suggest some are on a continuum with depression, whilst others are on a continuum with non-affective psychosis. Differing patterns of impact from etiological risk factors across the spectrum of psychopathology determine outcome at the most severe level of these continua.
| S-EPMC8594101 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Some research suggests that positive and negative valence stimuli may be processed differently. For example, negative material may capture and hold attention more readily than equally arousing positive material. This is called the negativity bias, and it has been observed as both behavioural and electroencephalographic (EEG) effects. Consequently, it has been attributed to both automatic and elaborative processes. However, at the lowest levels of arousal, faster reaction times and stronger EEG responses to positive material have been observed. This is called the positivity offset, and the underlying cognitive mechanism is less understood. To study the role of selective attention in the positivity offset, participants completed a negative affective priming (NAP) task modified to dissociate priming for positive and negative words. The task required participants to indicate the valence of a target word, while simultaneously ignoring a distractor. In experiment 1, a behavioural facilitation effect (faster response time) was observed for positive words, in stark contrast to the original NAP task. These results were congruent with a previously reported general categorization advantage for positive material. In experiment 2, participants performed the task while EEG was recorded. In additional to replicating the behavioural results from experiment 1, positive words elicited a larger Late Positive Potential (LPP) component on ignored repetition relative to control trials. Surprisingly, negative words elicited a larger LPP than positive words on control trials. These results suggest that the positivity offset may reflect a greater sensitivity to priming effects due to a more flexible attentional set.
| S-EPMC8565729 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Although the factor structure of psychosis continues to be debated by taxonomists, recent studies have supported a bifactor model consisting of a general psychosis factor and 5 uncorrelated symptom-specific factors. While this model has received support in clinical samples, it has not been tested at the general population level. Analysis was conducted on Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (N = 34 653). Twenty-two psychotic symptoms were used as observed indicators of psychosis. These items were chosen based on their conceptual similarity to the items used in a similar study based on clinical samples. Confirmatory factor analysis and confirmatory bifactor modeling were used to test a variety of competing models. The best fitting model consisted of a general psychosis factor that was uncorrelated with 5 specific factors: positive, negative, disorganization, mania, and depression. These findings suggest that the bifactor model can be extended to general population samples, supporting the continuity between clinical and subclinical psychotic experiences. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
| S-EPMC5216850 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Hearing voices that are not present is a prominent symptom of serious mental illness. However, these experiences may be common in the non-help-seeking population, leading some to propose the existence of a continuum of psychosis from health to disease. Thus far, research on this continuum has focused on what is impaired in help-seeking groups. Here we focus on protective factors in non-help-seeking voice-hearers. We introduce a new study population: clairaudient psychics who receive daily auditory messages. We conducted phenomenological interviews with these subjects, as well as with patients diagnosed with a psychotic disorder who hear voices, people with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder who do not hear voices, and matched control subjects (without voices or a diagnosis). We found the hallucinatory experiences of psychic voice-hearers to be very similar to those of patients who were diagnosed. We employed techniques from forensic psychiatry to conclude that the psychics were not malingering. Critically, we found that this sample of non-help-seeking voice hearers were able to control the onset and offset of their voices, that they were less distressed by their voice-hearing experiences and that, the first time they admitted to voice-hearing, the reception by others was much more likely to be positive. Patients had much more negative voice-hearing experiences, were more likely to receive a negative reaction when sharing their voices with others for the first time, and this was subsequently more disruptive to their social relationships. We predict that this sub-population of healthy voice-hearers may have much to teach us about the neurobiology, cognitive psychology and ultimately the treatment of voices that are distressing.
| S-EPMC5216860 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Individual differences in the evaluation of affective stimuli, such as the positivity offset and negativity bias may have a biological basis. We tested whether two SNPs (HTR2A; 102T>C and HTR1A; 1019C>G) related to serotonin receptor function, a biological pathway associated with affective regulation, were differentially related to positivity offset and negativity bias for males and females. Participants were 109 cigarette smokers who rated a series of affective stimuli to assess reactions to positive and negative pictures. Gender × genotype interactions were found for both SNPs. Males with the 102T allele showed a greater positivity offset than males with the 102C allele. For females, in contrast, the 1019C allele was associated with a greater positivity offset than the 1019G allele, whereas the 102T allele was associated with a greater negativity bias than the 102C allele. Identifying how gender differences may moderate the effect of serotonin receptor genes on affective information processing may provide insight into their role in guiding behavior and regulating affect.
| S-EPMC3747009 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThere is evidence for a group of nonclinical individuals with full-blown, persistent psychotic experiences (PEs) but no need-for-care: they are of particular importance in identifying risk and protective factors for clinical psychosis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether reasoning biases are related to PEs or need-for-care.MethodTwo groups with persistent PEs (clinical; n = 74; nonclinical; n = 92) and a control group without PEs (n = 83) were compared on jumping-to-conclusions (JTC) and belief flexibility. A randomly selected subset of interviews (n = 104) was analyzed to examine differences in experiential and rational reasoning.ResultsAs predicted JTC was more common in the clinical than the other 2 groups. Unexpectedly no group differences were observed between clinical and nonclinical groups on measures of belief flexibility. However, the clinical group was less likely to employ rational reasoning, while the nonclinical group was more likely to use experiential reasoning plus a combination of both types of reasoning processes, compared to the other 2 groups.ConclusionsReasoning biases differ in groups with PEs with and without need-for-care. JTC is associated with need-for-care rather than with PEs. The ability to invoke rational reasoning processes, together with an absence of JTC, may protect against pathological outcomes of persistent PEs. However, marked use of experiential reasoning is associated with the occurrence of PEs in both clinical and nonclinical groups. Implications for theory development, intervention and further research are discussed.
| S-EPMC5768047 | biostudies-literature
Project description:There is increasing evidence pointing toward a continuous distribution of psychotic symptoms and accompanying factors between subclinical and clinical populations. However, for the construction of continuum models, a more detailed knowledge of different types of psychotic-like experiences (PLE) and their associations with distress, functional impairment, and demographic variables is needed. We investigated PLE in a sample of healthy adults (N = 206) incorporating the recently developed revised Exceptional Experiences Questionnaire (PAGE-R). For the first time, the PAGE-R was cross validated with PLE, disorganized-, and negative-like symptoms [Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), Physical Anhedonia Scale (PAS)]. We subjected the PAGE-R to exploratory factor analyses and examined the resulting subtypes of EE for specific associations with contextual factors, valence ratings, socio-demographic variables, and general psychological burden (Revised Symptom-Checklist-90). Correlational cross-validation suggested that the PAGE-R measures facets of PLE. Importantly, we (1) identified three types of exceptional experiences (EE): Odd beliefs, dissociative anomalous perceptions, and hallucinatory anomalous perceptions. Further, the results suggested that even in healthy individuals (2) PLE and EE are indicative of reduced functioning, as reflected by increased psychological burden and lower educational achievement. Moreover, (3) similar sex-differences might exist as in psychotic patients with women reporting more positive-like symptoms and EE but less disorganized-like symptoms than men. Importantly, (4) EE might be differentially implicated in psychological functioning. We suggest that the PAGE-R holds the potential to complement the current assessment of sub-clinical psychosis. However, whereas our results might point toward a continuity of psychotic symptoms with EE and normal experiences, they require replication in larger samples as well as equivalence testing across the psychosis continuum. Future analyses incorporating the PAGE-R might shed more light onto mechanisms that are implicated in the progress or resilience toward clinical illness.
| S-EPMC5431212 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This study compared delusional dimensions and attribution biases along the continuum of psychosis. Participants completed questionnaires on delusion-like beliefs and attributions. Although patients with first-episode psychosis (N = 70) endorsed fewer delusion-like beliefs than non-clinical individuals with psychotic-like experiences (N = 12), they scored highest on delusional conviction, distress and preoccupation, followed by non-clinical individuals with psychotic-like experiences, and then healthy controls (N = 642). Self-serving bias was found in patients and non-clinical individuals with psychotic-like experiences, but not in healthy controls. Personalizing bias for negative events was not significantly different across the three groups. When compared with healthy controls, non-clinical individuals with psychotic-like experiences had an exaggerated self-serving bias, but were not more marked in personalizing bias. Self-serving bias and personalizing bias were both associated with delusional dimensions. However, the association between self-serving bias and number of delusion-like beliefs was stronger among patients than non-clinical participants. Future research could investigate the extent to which self-serving bias, in combination with an appraisal of delusional ideation as convincing, distress, and preoccupying, contributes to the development of clinical delusions.
| S-EPMC4671671 | biostudies-literature