| Literature DB >> 34313767 |
Adela-Maria Isvoranu1, Tim Ziermans2,3, Frederike Schirmbeck3,4, Denny Borsboom1, Hilde M Geurts2, Lieuwe de Haan3.
Abstract
Psychotic and autistic symptoms are related to social functioning in individuals with psychotic disorders (PD). The present study used a network approach to (1) evaluate the interactions between autistic symptoms, psychotic symptoms, and social functioning, and (2) investigate whether relations are similar in individuals with and without PD. We estimated an undirected network model in a sample of 504 PD, 572 familial risk for psychosis (FR), and 337 typical comparisons (TC), with a mean age of 34.9 years. Symptoms were assessed with the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ; 5 nodes) and the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE; 9 nodes). Social functioning was measured with the Social Functioning Scale (SFS; 7 nodes). We identified statistically significant differences between the FR and PD samples in global strength (P < .001) and network structure (P < .001). Our results show autistic symptoms (social interaction nodes) are negatively and more closely related to social functioning (withdrawal, interpersonal behavior) than psychotic symptoms. More and stronger connections between nodes were observed for the PD network than for FR and TC networks, while the latter 2 were similar in density (P = .11) and network structure (P = .19). The most central items in strength for PD were bizarre experiences, social skills, and paranoia. In conclusion, specific autistic symptoms are negatively associated with social functioning across the psychosis spectrum, but in the PD network symptoms may reinforce each other more easily. These findings emphasize the need for increased clinical awareness of comorbid autistic symptoms in psychotic individuals.Entities:
Keywords: autism; functional outcome; network analysis; network models; psychosis; schizophrenia
Mesh:
Year: 2022 PMID: 34313767 PMCID: PMC8781349 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbab084
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Schizophr Bull ISSN: 0586-7614 Impact factor: 9.306
Fig. 1.Network structure (a) for the family sample (left panel); (b) for the PD sample (right panel); (c) highlighting significant edge differences between the family sample and PD sample (bottom panel). A gray and wider border around a node (bottom panel) indicates a significant difference in strength centrality for that node between the 2 groups (ie, a higher value in the group where the border is present). The nodes represent the different dimensions of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences, Autism Spectrum Quotient, Social Functioning, and covariates. Item groups are differentiated by color. The dashed edges in the background (bottom panel) indicate the presence of other edges in the network, which were not identified as significantly different between the networks. The color of the edge indicates the size of the association (blue for positive associations; red for negative associations). For a color version, see this figure online. Note: FR, familial risk; PD, psychotic disorders.
Edge Differences Between Family and PD Samples
| Variable 1 | Variable 2 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Social skills | Attention switching | .007 |
| IQ | Imagination | .044 |
| Social skills | Imagination | .047 |
| Bizarre experiences | Hallucinations | <.001* |
| Attention switching | Grandiosity | .011 |
| Imagination | Grandiosity | .008 |
| Paranoia | Grandiosity | .006 |
| Bizarre experiences | Magical thinking | .001 |
| Grandiosity | Magical thinking | .001 |
| Bizarre experiences | Social withdrawal | .026 |
| Communication skills | Affective flattening | .039 |
| Affective flattening | Avolition | .011 |
| IQ | Depression | .008 |
| Attention to detail | Depression | .048 |
| Avolition | Prosocial activities | .007 |
| Withdrawal | Prosocial activities | .013 |
| Imagination | Independence performance | .036 |
| IQ | Independence competence | .049 |
| Independence performance | Independence competence | <.001* |
| Paranoia | Recreational activities | .003 |
| Prosocial activities | Recreational activities | .008 |
| Imagination | Occupation employment | .002* |
| Withdrawal | Occupation employment | .002 |
| Prosocial activities | Occupation employment | .024 |
| Independence competence | Occupation employment | <.001* |
Note: PD, psychotic disorders.
*Remained significant after Bonferroni correction.
Strength Centrality Differences Between Family and PD Samples
| Variable |
|
|---|---|
| IQ | <.001* |
| Social skills | .002* |
| Attention detail | <.001* |
| Imagination | <.001* |
| Bizarre experiences | <.001* |
| Hallucinations | <.001* |
| Paranoia | <.001* |
| Grandiosity | <.001* |
| Magical thinking | <.001* |
| Depression | .033 |
| Interpersonal behavior | .008 |
| Prosocial activities | .028 |
| Independence performance | <.001* |
| Independence competence | <.001* |
| Recreational activities | .049 |
| Occupation employment | <.001* |
Note: PD, psychotic disorders.
*Remained significant after Bonferroni correction.
Fig. 2.Strength centrality for each node included in the network. The orange line indicates strength centrality for the familiar risk (FR) sample, while the purple line indicates strength centrality for the psychotic disorder (PD) sample. For a color version, see this figure online. *Remained significant after Bonferroni correction.
Fig. 3.Bridge strength centrality for each node included in the network. The orange line indicates bridge strength centrality for the familial risk (FR) sample, while the purple line indicates bridge strength centrality for the psychotic disorder (PD) sample. For a color version, see this figure online.