Abstract
BackgroundPrior meta-analyses indicated that people with schizophrenia show impairment in trait hedonic capacity but retain their state hedonic experience (valence) in laboratory-based assessments. Little is known about what is the extent of differences for state positive emotional experience (especially arousal) between people with schizophrenia and healthy controls. It is also not clear whether negative symptoms and gender effect contribute to the variance of positive affect.Methods and FindingsThe current meta-analysis examined 21 studies assessing state arousal experience, 40 studies measuring state valence experience, and 47studies assessing trait hedonic capacity in schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia demonstrated significant impairment in trait hedonic capacity (Cohen’s d = 0.81). However, patients and controls did not statistically differ in state hedonic (valence) as well as exciting (arousal) experience to positive stimuli (Cohen’s d = −0.24 to 0.06). They also reported experiencing relatively robust state aversion and calmness to positive stimuli compared with controls (Cohen’s d = 0.75, 0.56, respectively). Negative symptoms and gender contributed to the variance of findings in positive affect, especially trait hedonic capacity in schizophrenia.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that schizophrenia patients have no deficit in state positive emotional experience but impairment in “noncurrent” hedonic capacity, which may be mediated by negative symptoms and gender effect.
Highlights
Anhedonia, defined as the inability to experience pleasure, has been long considered a core deficit of negative symptoms in schizophrenia [1,2]
Our findings suggest that schizophrenia patients have no deficit in state positive emotional experience but impairment in ‘‘noncurrent’’ hedonic capacity, which may be mediated by negative symptoms and gender effect
The following exclusion criteria were used to select studies in the initial pool for the meta-analysis: 1) articles focusing on nonhuman subjects; 2) articles not published in peer-reviewed journals; 3) poorly-defined emotion induction paradigms and questionnaires; 4) articles not written or translated in English; 5) duplicated articles; 6) articles that did not report data on patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and healthy controls; 7) articles with no available full text; 8) articles that did not focus on positive emotional experience
Summary
Anhedonia, defined as the inability to experience pleasure, has been long considered a core deficit of negative symptoms in schizophrenia [1,2]. Trait hedonic capacity is examined using interview-based measures and self-report trait measures while state positive emotional experience is assessed by using laboratory-based assessments [3]. In the past two decades, substantial evidence indicates that patients with schizophrenia have deficits in their trait hedonic capacity [3,4,5,6]. Few quantitative reviews have examined the extent to which these patients differ in trait hedonic capacity from healthy controls. Little is known about what is the extent of differences for state positive emotional experience (especially arousal) between people with schizophrenia and healthy controls. It is not clear whether negative symptoms and gender effect contribute to the variance of positive affect
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