Relationship between Alexithymia, Depression and the Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia with and without Deficit Syndrome.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to compare schizophrenia patients with and without Deficit Syndrome (DS) with respect to alexithymia, depression and negative symptoms and to investigate the relationship between these variables.

METHOD

A total of 210 schizophrenia patients who joined the study were grouped on the basis of the Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome (SDS). Each patient was evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) and the UKU - Side Effect Rating Scale (UKU-SERS).

RESULTS

The DS group had higher alexithymia scores that were not related to the negative symptoms. The prevalence of depression was significantly lower in the same group. Positive symptoms in the DS group were negatively correlated with the two TAS subscales of difficulty describing and identifying feelings. The negative symptoms scores of all the patients with and without DS correlated positively with the mean score on the TAS subscales. The severity of depressive and the negative symptoms predicted alexithymic symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Lack of a correlation between the negative symptoms and alexithymic symptoms in DS suggested that the respective symptoms represented different independent phenomena in schizophrenia. A future study might explore the relationship between alexithymia and negative symptoms in association with cognitive functioning.