Submission
| Title: | Social Pleasure in the Daily Lives of People with Schizophrenia: A Meta-analysis |
| Co-Authors: |
Abel, Danielle, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis; Kyle S. Minor, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis |
Abstract
Background/Significance/Rationale: The “emotion paradox” of schizophrenia suggests those with schizophrenia demonstrate deficits when reporting anticipated and retrospective pleasure; yet, in-the-moment, consummatory pleasure is largely intact. Although this pattern of results has been found in laboratory studies, it is uncertain if these findings extend to daily social activities. This meta-analysis aimed to 1) determine the mean difference in daily, consummatory social pleasure between people with schizophrenia and healthy controls, and 2) examine moderators of this effect, including study design and clinical characteristics of participants.
Methods: A literature search using PsycINFO, Web of Science, Pubmed, and EMBASE databases was conducted. Studies measuring consummatory social pleasure using experience sampling methods (ESM) were included. Random effects meta-analyses were conducted using Hedge’s g.
Results/Findings: Meta-analysis of 14 studies suggests those with schizophrenia exhibited a moderate, significant deficit in consummatory social pleasure (g=-0.55, 95% CI [-0.81, -0.29]). There was significant heterogeneity in effect sizes; 78% of the total effect size variance across studies was attributed to between-study variance. Magnitude of effect size was moderated by age of the schizophrenia sample and type of measure used to assess social pleasure (i.e., direct versus indirect measures).
Conclusions/Discussion: Overall, people with schizophrenia seem to exhibit reduced consummatory pleasure than controls. However, effect sizes ranged from large, negative effects to moderate, positive effects across studies. These results suggest hedonic deficits may not be a universal aspect of schizophrenia as traditional social anhedonia research suggests. Instead, variables of daily life or other clinical factors of patients may lead to differences in social pleasure.
Translational/Human Health Impact: This project serves as a critical intermediate step to bridge the gap between laboratory research and patient treatment. These results have important implications for measuring daily social pleasure using ESM and point to a need for future studies to identify precise targets to treat social dysfunction in schizophrenia.
