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The Distinction of Positive and Negative Symptoms

The Failure of a Two-Dimensional Model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Stephan Arndt ,
Randall J. Alliger  and
Nancy C. Andreasen
Stephan Arndt*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, 500 Newton Road, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA
Randall J. Alliger
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa
Nancy C. Andreasen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa
*
* Correspondence
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Abstract

The distinction of positive and negative symptoms in describing schizophrenic patients has become popular. It presupposes that symptoms cluster in two dimensions, fitting together not only theoretically but empirically. Factor analysis of three published studies of 93, 62 and 52 schizophrenic patients and a large pooled sample showed that more than two distinct dimensions are required to categorise symptoms in schizophrenia. This result is consistent across methods and samples, and with previous literature. The added dimensionality resulted from a splitting of the positive symptom domain into more distinct factors.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 158 , Issue 3 , March 1991 , pp. 317 - 322
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1991 

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