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Lexical Characteristics of Anticipatory and Consummatory Anhedonia in Schizophrenia: A Study of Language in Spontaneous Life Narratives
Author(s) -
Buck Benjamin,
Minor Kyle S.,
Lysaker Paul H.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.22160
Subject(s) - anhedonia , psychology , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , narrative , cognition , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , schizoaffective disorder , construct (python library) , plural , psychosis , psychiatry , linguistics , philosophy , computer science , programming language
Objectives The extent to which anticipatory anhedonia (an important determinant of outcome in schizophrenia) is determined by interpersonal characteristics, cognitive biases, or even artifacts of measurement remains unclear. The present study aims to provide understanding cognitive, affective and phenomenological characteristics of this construct by examining the lexical characteristics of life narratives with schizophrenia with computerized lexical analysis. Method A total of 41 individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder completed the Indiana Psychiatric Illness Interview, and the lexical characteristics of these narratives were examined for their relationships to both anticipatory and consummatory anhedonia. Results Results revealed that relatively higher levels of both anticipatory and consummatory anhedonia were linked with fewer past‐related words and by lesser use of first‐person plural pronouns. Conclusions This may suggest anhedonia is linked to diminished access to past narrative episodes and a lesser sense of shared important moments with others.