ObjectivesThe Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms (CAINS) is an interview-based instrument evaluating the existence and severity of negative symptoms in people diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The aim of this study is to translate and validate a French version of the CAINS in a French sample of outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.MethodsIn this study, we included 84 outpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia from the University Department of Adult Psychiatry in Montpellier, France. All participants were assessed for the severity of negative symptoms as well as level of depression. Psychometric properties of the French CAINS were investigated including its factor structure, internal consistency, and interrater and test–retest reliabilities. We also determined the discriminant and convergent validity.ResultsExploratory factor analysis and parallel analysis reproduced the two-factor model, and explained 43.55% of the total score variation with good internal consistency (Cronbach α of 0.87). Both interrater and test–retest reliabilities were high for the CAINS and its subscales (intraclass correlation coefficient range, 0.89–0.99). The standard errors of measurement and minimal detectable change were also investigated. Convergent validity of the CAINS was underpinned by correlations obtained with various measures of negative symptoms. Adequate discriminant validity was established by showing that the CAINS did not correlate with positive symptoms.ConclusionOverall, our results obtained were similar to those found in the original study of the CAINS. Structural analyses also replicated the two-factor model of the CAINS. Our results indicate that the French CAINS has robust psychometric properties and is a valid tool for evaluating negative symptoms in French-speaking individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia.
This study investigated objective and subjective cognitive effort as a function of task difficulty in schizophrenia, based on the principles of motivational intensity theory. Thirty individuals with schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls worked on four levels of a working memory task ranging from easy to extremely difficult. We assessed objective effort as cardiovascular activity during task performance and subjective effort via self-report. In addition, we assessed participants' task performance, negative symptoms, amotivation, depression, and fatigue. Cardiovascular activity during the task increased only in the healthy control group, but not in the schizophrenia group, indicating attenuated objective effort in schizophrenia. However, individuals with schizophrenia reported similar levels of subjective effort as healthy controls. Moreover, we found a negative association between fatigue and cardiovascular activity only in the schizophrenia group. Our results show a dissociation between objective and subjective effort in schizophrenia, which may explain decreased willingness to mobilize cognitive resources in individuals with schizophrenia. Moreover, our results highlight the importance of fatigue in effort in schizophrenia, a variable rarely considered in the current literature.
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