An experimental assessment of the personal-semantic aspects of social anhedonia in schizophrenic patients

Vlasov A.

doi:10.14529/jpps250405

A. S. Vlasov 1) Regional Clinical Specialized Psychoneurological Hospital № 1 (454028, Russian Federation, Chelyabinsk, Kuznetsova str., 2A); 2) South Ural State Medical University (454092, Russian Federation, Chelyabinsk, Vorovskogo str., 64) https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8793-5357 andrey_wlasov@mail.ru

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14529/jpps250405

Keywords: social anhedonia, schizophrenia, psychosemantics, semantic differential, tachistoscope, semantic coordinates, semantic profile, personal-semantic subjective aspect

Abstract

Introduction. In modern science, research interest is focused on the neurobehavioral and cognitive aspects of social anhedonia within schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Data have shown that impaired social hedonic function is associated with the subjective assessment of social experience in schizophrenic patients, attributable to their emotional and cognitive deficits. However, the substantive aspect of this assessment in schizophrenic patients has not yet been analyzed within the semantic coordinates of social experience in healthy subjects. Aims. This article aims to identify the features of the subjective personal-semantic aspect of social anhedonia in schizophrenic patients within the semantic coordinates of social experience in healthy subjects. Materials and methods. The study involved schizophrenic patients undergoing inpatient treatment (n = 60) and a control group of healthy subjects (n = 45). The research methods included the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (RSAS) and the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS). Images from the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) were used as social perception stimuli, presented tachistoscopically with an exposure time of 30 ms (Tachistoscope 1.0). A specialized semantic differential was used to assess the subjective personal-semantic aspect of social experience. The data were subjected to correlation and comparative analyses. Results. In schizophrenic patients, the semantic organization of the social space, which is linked to social anhedonia, can be represented using the semantic coordinates of healthy subjects. For schizophrenic patients, the most significant semantic coordinates were identified as ‘beautiful’, ‘dangerous’, and ‘evil’. For healthy subjects, the most significant coordinates were ‘beautiful’, ‘thoughtful’, and ‘young’. Conclusion. Schizophrenic patients perceive the social space as dangerous and characterized by negative emotions, an evaluation that is associated with the severity of their social anhedonia

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Author Biography

A. S. Vlasov , 1) Regional Clinical Specialized Psychoneurological Hospital № 1 (454028, Russian Federation, Chelyabinsk, Kuznetsova str., 2A); 2) South Ural State Medical University (454092, Russian Federation, Chelyabinsk, Vorovskogo str., 64)

1) medical psychologist; 2) lecturer, Department of Psychology

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