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Clinical experience shows that negative symptoms are affected by environmental factors. Thus, different assessors with different information about patient behavior in different environments may come to different findings of negative symptoms. In this regard, the present study evaluates to what extent the assessment of negative symptoms by schizophrenic inpatients and their relatives compares to interview-based assessments by experts. Therefore, 33 schizophrenic patients were rated by patients themselves, their relatives, and psychiatrists. Negative symptoms were assessed with comparable assessment scales using the modified version of the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) for patients or relatives and the original SANS for psychiatrists. Analyses revealed that the total SANS summary scores as rated by patients and relatives were comparable to scores rated by psychiatrists. Scores on SANS subscales of "alogia" and "attention deficits" differed significantly among the three ratings, while psychiatrists rated the patients' impairments as lower than did the patients themselves or their relatives. These findings indicate that patients' and relatives' ratings could be used to reduce information variance and improve the validity of interview-based, assessed negative symptoms.

Background: The present study evaluated differences in negative symptoms between schizophrenic and depressive patients and investigated whether a consideration of the nature of negative symptoms (enduring vs. nonenduring) can help to improve their specificity for schizophrenia., Method: Patients enrolled in the study were consecutively hospitalized with an acute exacerbation of schizophrenia (N = 33) or major depressive disorder (N = 43) (DSM-IV). Negative and depressive symptoms were assessed with the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, respectively. Duration of negative symptoms was assessed through a semistructured interview with the patients and their closest relatives. On the basis of the assessed duration of symptoms, negative symptoms were categorized as enduring or nonenduring., Results: Analyses revealed high SANS ratings for both diagnostic groups. Negative symptoms in depressive patients (p =.01), but not in schizophrenic patients, were significantly associated with the presence or the emergence of depressive symptoms. The prevalence of enduring negative symptoms was significantly higher in schizophrenic patients than in depressive patients (p <.01). A consideration of enduring negative symptoms significantly increased the discriminative power of negative symptoms for schizophrenia (p =.02)., Conclusion: The present findings suggest that negative symptoms in most depressive patients are just an epiphenomenon of depressive symptoms and can be distinguished from schizophrenic negative symptoms.