Validity and reliability of a Persian version of the self- evaluation of negative symptoms (SNS)

Shahrzad Mazhari,Farzaneh Jahanbakhsh,Mahin Eslami Shahrbabaki,Anahita Karamooz,Sonia Dollfus

doi:10.1186/s12888-021-03521-7

Abstract

AimThe Self-evaluation of Negative Symptoms (SNS) has been developed to allow schizophrenia patients to evaluate themselves in five dimensions of negative symptoms. The present study aimed to examine psychometric properties of the Persian version of SNS.MethodsA group of 50 patients with schizophrenia and a group of 50 healthy controls received the Persian-SNS. Severity of negative symptoms were evaluated by the Scale for Assessment of Negative symptoms (SANS) and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS).ResultsThe results showed that the Cronbach’s alpha for the Persian SNS was 0.95. The Persian-SNS and its subscales showed significant positive correlations with the total SANS score and SANS subscales as well as BPRS negative subscale, thus confirming the validity of the scale. Finally, the Persian-SNS showed the ability to discriminate patients with schizophrenia from healthy controls.ConclusionThe acceptable properties of the Persian version of SNS demonstrated that it is a practical tool for screening negative symptoms in Persian-speaking schizophrenia patients.

Highlights

Negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia indicate the loss of certain behaviors or normal functioning, and are found at any stage of the disorder including: prodromal, acute, and residual phases
A number of scales have been developed to assess the subjective experience of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, including Subjective Experience of Deficits in Schizophrenia (SEDS) [12], Subjective Deficit Syndrome Scale [13], Subjective Experience of Negative Symptoms (SENS) [14], and Motivation and Pleasure Scale Self-Report (MAPSR)
The two groups were well matched in terms of age, gender, and years of education

Summary

Introduction

Negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia indicate the loss of certain behaviors or normal functioning, and are found at any stage of the disorder including: prodromal, acute, and residual phases. Studies have reported severe negative symptoms in 26–36% of patients with schizophrenia [2]. A number of scales have been developed to assess the subjective experience of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, including Subjective Experience of Deficits in Schizophrenia (SEDS) [12], Subjective Deficit Syndrome Scale [13], Subjective Experience of Negative Symptoms (SENS) [14], and Motivation and Pleasure Scale Self-Report (MAPSR). The older scales are not self-assessment and the MAPRS fails to examine all the five dimensions [15]

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