College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item Electrophysiology of Social Reward Processing in Schizophrenia(2018) Catalano, Lauren; Blanchard, Jack J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Poor social outcomes have been long observed in schizophrenia. Most studies have identified social cognition as an important contributor to social functioning. Recent research suggests that some people with schizophrenia do not appropriately respond to social rewards, including facial expression of positive affect. The aim of the current study was (1) to use electroencephalogram (EEG) and the event related potential (ERP) technique to examine how people with schizophrenia (SZ) and healthy control (HC) participants anticipate and respond to social (smiles) and nonsocial (money) types of feedback; (2) to examine how deficits in social reward processing are associated with motivation and pleasure deficits and social functioning; and (3) to examine differential contributions of social cognition and social reward processing in understanding functioning. Social and monetary incentive delay tasks were used to characterize reward processing. The stimulus preceding negativity (SPN) was evaluated as an index of reward anticipation, and the reward positivity (RewP) was evaluated as an index of reward sensitivity. Results indicated that HC participants (n = 22) showed significantly more anticipation of reward feedback than neutral feedback, as indexed by the SPN. SZ participants (n = 25) showed similar anticipation regardless of whether there was a potential to win a reward. SZ participants were more sensitive to social rewards than HC participants, as indexed by a larger RewP. We were unable to measure the RewP on the money task; however, exploratory analyses on a P2 component suggested there were no group differences in nonsocial reward sensitivity. Within the SZ group, reduced social reward anticipation was related to greater motivation and pleasure deficits but not social functioning. Social cognition was not significantly related to social functioning or social reward processing in the SZ sample. This is the first study to measure the electrophysiological correlates of social and nonsocial reward processing in schizophrenia. Findings provide preliminary evidence of a generalized anticipatory deficit in schizophrenia that is related to impairments in motivation and pleasure. Reward sensitivity to social rewards appears to be intact. Future experimental design considerations are discussed.Item Functional Neuroimaging of the Social Regulation of Emotion in Schizophrenia(2016) McCarthy, Julie McCarthy; Blanchard, Jack J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Negative symptoms in schizophrenia are characterized by deficits in normative experiences and expression of emotion. Social anhedonia (diminished pleasure from social experiences) is one negative symptom that may impact patients’ motivation to engage in meaningful social relationships. Past research has begun to examine the mechanisms that underlie social anhedonia, but it is unclear how this lack of social interest may impact the typically positive effects of social buffering and social baseline theory whereby social support attenuates stress. The present pilot study examines how social affiliation through hand holding is related to subjective and neural threat processing, negative symptoms, and social functioning. Twenty-one participants (14 controls; 7 schizophrenia) developed social affiliation with a member of the research staff who served as the supportive partner during the threat task. Participants displayed greater subjective benefit to holding the hand of their partner during times of stress relative to being alone or with an anonymous experimenter, as indicated by self-reported increased positive valence and decreased arousal ratings. When examining the effects of group, hand holding, and their interaction on the neurological experience of threat during the fMRI task, the results were not significant. However, exploratory analyses identified preliminary data suggesting that controls experienced small relative increases in BOLD signal to threat when alone compared to being with the anonymous experimenter or their partner, whereas the schizophrenia group results indicated subtle relative decreases in BOLD signal to threat when alone compared to either of the hand holding conditions. Additionally, within the schizophrenia group, more positive valence in the partner condition was associated with less severe negative symptoms, better social functioning, and more social affiliation, whereas less arousal was correlated with more social affiliation. Our pilot study offers initial insights about the difficulties of building and using social affiliation and support through hand holding with individuals with schizophrenia during times of stress. Further research is necessary to clarify which types of support may be more or less beneficial to individuals with schizophrenia who may experience social anhedonia or paranoia with others that may challenge the otherwise positive effects of social buffering and maintaining a social baseline.Item Taxometric Analysis of Negative Symptoms in An International Sample of Ten Countries(2011) Wilson, Amy; Blanchard, Jack J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Negative symptoms have emerged as a replicable factor of symptomatology within schizophrenia. Although rating scales provide assessments along dimensions of severity, categorization of a negative symptom subtype is typically concluded. Despite an accumulation of findings that support categorical conceptualization, the data are also consistent with a dimensional-only model where negative symptom subtypologies simply reflect an extreme on a continuum of severity. Previous studies (Blanchard, et al, 2005) have used taxometric statistical methods to confirm the existence of a negative symptom subtype; however, the nature of taxometric methods requires replication (Waller & Meehl, 1998). The current investigation is a taxometric analysis of the World Health Organization Ten-Country Study of Schizophrenia. Data from a subset of 694 individuals were analyzed using the taxometric methods of maximum covariance analysis (MAXCOV) and mean above minus below a cut (MAMBAC) and a latent class with a base rate of approximately .14 - .16 was identified.Item The Social Behaviors and Emotional Characteristics of Individuals Elevated on Social Anhedonia(2010) Llerena, Katiah; Blanchard, Jack J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Research suggests that social anhedonia (SocAnh) is a promising indicator for the vulnerability towards developing schizophrenia-spectrum disorders as well as an important determinant of the social impairment associated within these disorders. In this study we sought to examine the hypothesis that, within social affiliative interactions, individuals with SocAnh demonstrate problematic behavioral skills and experiential deficits. The current study compared controls (n=54) to individuals elevated on SocAnh (n=42) within a videotaped social interaction focusing on an initial affiliative interaction. Compared to controls, participants with SocAnh were rated as less behaviorally affiliative and they were rated as having overall lower social skills. There were no group differences on ratings of facial affect. SocAnh participants reported experiencing less positive affect in response to the social interaction, were less willing to engage in future social interactions with their interaction partner, and had less affiliative reactions toward the interaction partner. Results converge with prior findings in that individuals with SocAnh may experience less positive and affiliative reactions in response to social interactions. They may also be less apt in interacting with social partners in affiliative ways. Notably, results of the current study also demonstrate that the simulated live social interaction developed for the current study may better elicit social affiliative behaviors and experiences than previous stimuli.Item The Negative Symptom Rating Scale: Initial Evaluation of Reliability and Validity(2009) Forbes, Courtney Brynn; Blanchard, Jack J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Negative symptoms in schizophrenia are a major determinant of the social and occupational impairments that characterize the disorder, as well as a significant source of distress for caregivers, and predictors of poor long-term outcome. Despite the compelling evidence for the clinical relevance of negative symptoms, this domain of the illness remains inadequately addressed by current pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. As identified at the NIMH-MATRICS Consensus Development Conference on Negative Symptoms, a significant barrier to progress in the treatment of this symptom domain is the current lack of an adequate measure for assessment of negative symptoms (Kirkpatrick et al., 2006). It was in response to this need that the NIMH-MATRICS Negative Symptom Workgroup developed a new measure, the Negative Symptom Rating Scale (NSRS). The current study provided the first evaluation of the psychometric properties of the newly developed NSRS, including the inter-rater agreement and internal consistency of the NSRS scales, and assessed convergent and discriminant validity. The results of this initial psychometric evaluation of the NSRS are generally quite encouraging, and provide information that has helped inform data-driven modifications to the measure for upcoming validation studies. With regards to reliability, the NSRS demonstrated adequate internal consistency for the scale as a whole, and for three of the five subscales. The results indicated that the Asociality and Avolition subscales warrant further revisions or modifications to improve internal consistency. Additionally, three of the five subscales were found to have good to excellent interrater reliability, with the Avolition and Alogia subscales falling in the fair range. Results generally demonstrated adequate convergent validity between the NSRS and other measures of negative symptoms, namely the SANS and the BPRS Anergia subscale. Additionally, results indicated general convergence between clinician-rated anhedonia using the NSRS and self-reported anhedonia as measured by the TEPS. Finally, the NSRS showed discrimination from ratings of psychotic and depressive symptoms. The results of the present study point to areas in which revisions are necessary, and has provided valuable information that is necessary for making revisions and modifications to the measure prior to larger scale evaluation.Item Error Observation in Schizophrenia(2009) Mann-Wrobel, Monica Constance; Blanchard, Jack J.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Despite the pervasive and impairing nature of social difficulties in schizophrenia, the causes of these problems are not fully understood. It has been suggested that problems with cognitive functioning contribute to the social deficits of schizophrenia. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms that underlie cognitive processes directly linked to social dysfunction in schizophrenia. Recent studies of the mirror neuron system have focused on the error-related negativity (ERN), a negatively-deflected event-related brain potential that is elicited following the commission of an erroneous response. This study examined ERN activity in schizophrenia patients and psychiatrically healthy controls during performance and observation of a confederate performing a computerized flanker task. The lateralized readiness potential (LRP) allowed for a direct comparison of brain activation reflecting response readiness verses error signaling. Correlations between ERN activity during flanker observation, social cognition (i.e., theory of mind), and community social functioning were explored. Finally, correlations between verbal memory, executive functioning, and social functioning were examined and social cognition was explored as a mediator between neurocognition and social functioning. Results indicated that controls produced a robust ERN during execution of the flanker task, whereas ERN activity among patients was comparatively attenuated in amplitude. During observation, there were no significant group differences and no identifiable observation ERN; however, there was greater negative activity following error than correct trials in this condition for all participants. LRP activity did not parallel that of the ERN, supporting the differentiation of motor activity and error-related processing during observation. The only significant correlation to emerge between ERN activity and social cognition and social functioning was between occupational status and execution ERN activity among controls only. Unexpectedly, neurocognition and social functioning were negatively correlated in the patient group. Expectedly, these variables were positively correlated among controls. Therefore, regression analyses were conducted separately by group; however, neither neurocognition nor social cognition predicted a significant proportion of the variance in social functioning. Despite limitations, this research is discussed as a starting point for integrating the study of psychophysiological activity with social behavior and functioning, particularly in a clinical population with pronounced social deficits.Item Verbal and Nonverbal Expressions as Indicators of Social and Emotional Functioning among Social Anhedonics(2006-05-08) Mann, Monica Constance; Blanchard, Jack J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Social anhedonia has received increasing empirical attention and support as a vulnerability marker for the development of schizophrenia. Although social anhedonia implies a reduced capacity for pleasure, the relationship between this construct and the experience and expression of emotion remains unclear. The current study sought to better understand the emotional expression of anhedonics by examining the self-report of emotional experiences and social relationships. Results indicated that social anhedonics used fewer positive emotion words in social descriptions and fewer social words in positive experience descriptions. Social anhedonics did not use significantly fewer positive facial expressions than controls, although gender differences were observed. Correlations with symptom ratings were inconsistent. Thus, this research was able to integrate the study of social and emotional functioning to describe the emotional correlates of social anhedonia which adds to an accumulating body of knowledge on behavioral characteristics for identifying individuals at putative risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.Item Neuropsychological Characteristics of Putative Schizotypes: A Comparative Study(2004-11-11) Tervo, Kari; Blanchard, Jack J.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The development of strategies for the early prediction, detection, and treatment of schizophrenia, a disorder of neural origin, has been a significant aim of schizophrenia research. Understanding and predicting the pathogenesis of schizophrenia is imperative for the early intervention and possible prevention of the myriad negative outcomes associated with the disorder. The Chapman scales are used to identify individuals who show behavioral markers of the disorder, but few studies have examined the neurocognitive characteristics evidenced by those who are designated as schizotypes by those scales. The purpose of this study was to examine two groups designated as putative schizotypes by the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (RSAS; SocAnh group) and the combined Perceptual Aberration and Magical Ideation Scales (PAS/MIS; PerMag group) in concert with neurocognitive evidence in order to determine whether the RSAS or PAS/MIS is the most valid indicator of the liability for schizophrenia and related disorders. This study was the first to simultaneously examine SocAnh individuals and PerMag individuals on a variety of neurocognitive indices in a community sample. Results indicate that while there do not appear to be neurocognitive differences between the groups with respect to attention, working memory, and general memory indices, SocAnh individuals had more schizophrenia-spectrum characteristics and diagnoses, as well as lower global functioning, than did PerMag individuals or controls. Null neurocognitive results may have occurred for a variety of reasons. First, the measures in this study are designed to detect gross impairment rather than the attenuated impairment that schizotypes may have relative to schizophrenia patients. Gross neurocognitive decline may not occur until after the expression of schizophrenia symptoms. Second, this study used pure schizotype samples, which proved to be instrumental in demonstrating that a combination of schizotypy characteristics may be a more reliable marker of schizophrenia liability. Finally, this community sample may be a better representation of schizotype functioning than are college samples. Future directions are discussed.Item Refining the Psychometric High-Risk Paradigm: Examining Negative Symptom Traits for the Identification of Schizotypy(2004-02-10) Adams, Kimberly A; Blanchard, Jack J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Research supports social anhedonia's significance as a schizotypy indicator. However, social anhedonia is only one of several negative symptoms demonstrating an important relationship with premorbid functioning, medication response, and prognosis in schizophrenia. Despite these findings, the psychometric assessment of schizophrenia has focused primarily on social anhedonia. Negative symptom research indicates that avolition, apathy, and diminished emotional expression might be useful to include as potential schizotypy indicators. This thesis examined the relationship between social anhedonia and other negative symptom-related traits, in a college sample using factor analysis and taxometric analyses. Social anhedonia loaded on the same factor as diminished emotional expression and (low) positive affect and this factor was independent of a factor comprised of positive symptom traits (perceptual aberrations and magical ideation). Despite the strong relationship between social anhedonia and the negative symptom traits, these other measures were not associated with the taxon identified by the RSAS.Item Refining the prediction of risk for schizophrenia: Combining putative genetic and neurodevelopmental measures to predict schizophrenia-spectrum pathology(2004-01-27) aghevli, minu arianne; Blanchard, Jack J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Social anhedonia may be a promising indicator of an underlying genetic liability for schizophrenia. However, among socially anhedonic individuals, only a minority shows schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. In attempting to understand who may develop schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, researchers have hypothesized that schizophrenia may require both genetic risk and the presence of early environmental stressors (e.g., obstetric complications). "Developmental instability," which pertains to such early environmental stressors, refers to an organism's inability to buffer the effects of environmental insults on development, and has been associated with genetic risk for schizophrenia. Although one might expect developmental instability to also be elevated in individuals at psychometrically-determined risk for schizophrenia, this hypothesis has not been well-tested. This study examined two related questions using a cohort of psychometrically-identified high risk (socially anhedonic) and control 18- year-olds, and their biological mothers: First, are measures of environmental insult (i.e., developmental instability and obstetric complications) higher in individuals at presumed genetic risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (i.e., socially anhedonic individuals)? Second, do measures of environmental insult interact with putative genetic risk to predict poorer functioning on measures of clinical psychopathology and neurocognitive ability? Developmental instability was studied using fingerprints, minor physical anomalies and handedness. Obstetric history was obtained from biological mothers where possible. Results showed that socially anhedonic subjects had higher rates of one DI measure (minor physical anomalies) than controls. In addition, they were more clinically impaired in terms of mood disorders and schizophrenia-spectrum personality disorders, as well as overall functioning. Minor physical anomalies were also associated with higher ratings of schizophrenia-spectrum personality disorder symptoms within social anhedonics. Finally, there was an interaction between social anhedonia status and minor physical anomalies for Schizoid Personality Disorder symptoms, with the interaction associated with greater pathology over and above the contributions of each variable separately. These results support social anhedonia as an indicator of genetic liability for schizophrenia. Moreover, they suggest that developmental instability is associated with psychometrically-measured risk for schizophrenia, as well as with clinical pathology. The interaction between social anhedonia status and minor physical anomalies is in line with previous research demonstrating an interaction between genetic risk and environmental stressors.