| Literature DB >> 35383232 |
Jadyn S Park1,2, Katherine S F Damme3,4, Franchesca S Kuhney5, Vijay A Mittal1,2,6,7,8.
Abstract
Individuals with psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) represent a critical group for improving the understanding of vulnerability factors across the psychosis continuum. A growing body of literature has identified functional deficits associated with PLEs. However, it is unclear if such deficits purely reveal the underlying psychosis vulnerability or if they are also linked with comorbid anxiety symptoms. Although anxiety disorders are often associated with impairments in psychosis-risk, symptoms of anxiety may facilitate executive functioning in certain psychosis groups. The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences was completed to assess psychosis-like symptoms in a total of 57 individuals, and its median score was used to categorize PLE groups (high-PLE = 24, low-PLE = 33). Anxiety symptoms were measured via the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and cognitive flexibility was measured by the Penn Conditional Exclusion Test. The high-PLE group endorsed more anxiety symptoms, demonstrated poorer accuracy and efficiency on the cognitive task, and made more perseverative errors compared to the low-PLE group. Within the high-PLE group, higher levels of anxiety symptoms were associated with better performance and less perseverative errors compared to individuals with lower levels of anxiety symptoms. Conversely, greater anxiety symptoms were associated with poorer performance in the low-PLE group. Taken together, these findings provide a preliminary support for a potential psychosis vulnerability × anxiety symptom interaction. Given the interest in the psychosis continuum and potential treatment implications, the present findings warrant replication efforts.Entities:
Mesh:
Year: 2022 PMID: 35383232 PMCID: PMC8983653 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09620-z
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Sci Rep ISSN: 2045-2322 Impact factor: 4.379
Demographic characteristics.
| High NCP | Low NCP | Group differences | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NS | |||
| Male (%) | 6 (20.7%) | 10 (27.0%) | |
| Female (%) | 22 (75.9%) | 26 (70.3%) | |
| Unknown (%) | 1 (3.4%) | 1 (2.7%) | |
| NS | |||
| Mean years (SD) | 20.79 (1.95) | 20.06 (1.97) | |
| NS | |||
| Mean years (SD) | 14.46 (3.20) | 14.52 (1.84) | |
| Mean score (SD)a | 13.72 (3.57) | 4.22 (2.51) | |
| Mean score (SD) | 15.96 (9.77) | 11.31 (8.20) | |
aCAPE frequency score from positive domain only.
Figure 1Correlation between PLEs and anxiety symptoms by PLE group. There was a significant positive correlation between PLEs and anxiety symptoms within the high-PLE group only. BAI Beck Anxiety Inventory, CAPE Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences, PLE Psychotic-Like Experiences.
Performance summary.
| Accuracy | Efficiency | Perseveration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High-NCP | 2.18 (.92) | .21 (.1) | 15.33 (9.63) |
| Low-NCP | 2.75 (.76) | .28 (.08) | 9.09 (6.49) |
| .014* | .012* | .009** | |
| Cohen’s D | .684 | .694 | .785 |
Mean and standard deviation value of accuracy, efficiency, and perseveration errors by group. In all facets of executive functioning measures, the high-NCP group showed deficits compared to the low-NCP group. p < .05*; p < .01**.
Figure 2(a) Accuracy by PLE group. Each dot represents the value from each individual. The distribution of values is indicated by the density plot as well as the box plot. Overall, the high-PLE group made significantly less accurate responses compared to the low-PLE group. PLE Psychotic-Like Experiences. (b) Accuracy relates to anxiety symptoms in the high-PLE group. Individuals with greater levels of anxiety in the high-PLE group made accurate responses comparable to those with low-PLE. Note that the PLE groups were divided into different high/low anxiety groups for illustrative purposes only and all analyses treated anxiety symptoms continuously. Anx anxiety symptoms, PLE psychotic-like experiences.
Figure 3(a) Efficiency by PLE group. The high-PLE group made significantly less efficient responses compared to the low-PLE group. PLE psychotic-like experiences. (b) Efficiency relates to anxiety symptoms in the high-PLE group. Individuals with greater levels of anxiety in the high-PLE group made efficient responses comparable to those with low-PLE. Note that the PLE groups were divided into different high/low anxiety groups for illustrative purposes only and all analyses treated anxiety symptoms continuously. Anx anxiety symptoms, PLE psychotic-like experiences.
Figure 4(a) Perseverative Errors by PLE group. The high-PLE group made significantly more perseverative errors compared to the low-PLE group. PLE psychotic-like experiences. (b) Perseverative errors relate to anxiety symptoms in the high-PLE group. Individuals with greater levels of anxiety in the high-PLE group made perseverative responses comparable to those with low-PLE. Note that the PLE groups were divided into different high/low anxiety groups for illustrative purposes only and all analyses treated anxiety symptoms continuously. Anx anxiety symptoms, PLE psychotic-like experiences.