CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 6Schizophrenia research and treatmentChild Abuse and TraumaPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research

Aberrant salience mediates the interplay between emotional abuse and positive symptoms in schizophrenia

Open access
de Filippis, Renato, Aloi, Matteo, Liuzza, Marco Tullio, Pugliese, Valentina, Carbone, Elvira Anna, Rania, Marianna, Segura-Garcia, Cristina, De Fazio, Pasquale·2024·Comprehensive Psychiatry
DOI 10.1016/j.comppsych.2024.152496
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Childhood trauma and adversities (CTA) and aberrant salience (AS) have a pivotal role in schizophrenia development, but their interplay with psychotic symptoms remains vague. We explored the mediation performed by AS between CTA and psychotic symptomatology in schizophrenia. METHODS: We approached 241 adults suffering from schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs), who have been in the unit for at least 12 consecutive months, excluding the diagnosis of dementia, and recent substance abuse disorder, and cross-sectional evaluated through the Aberrant Salience Inventory (ASI), Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Short-Form (CTQ-SF), and Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS). We tested a path-diagram where AS mediated the relationship between CTA and psychosis, after verifying each measure one-dimensionality through confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: The final sample comprised 222 patients (36.9% female), with a mean age of 42.4 (± 13.3) years and an average antipsychotic dose of 453.6 (± 184.2) mg/day (chlorpromazine equivalents). The mean duration of untreated psychosis was 1.8 (± 2.0) years while the mean onset age was 23.9 (± 8.2) years. Significant paths were found from emotional abuse to ASI total score (β = 0.39; p < .001) and from ASI total score to PANSS positive (β = 0.17; p = .019). Finally, a statistically significant indirect association was found from emotional abuse to PANSS positive mediated by ASI total score (β = 0.06; p = .041; CI 95% [0.01, 0.13]). CONCLUSION: Emotional abuse has an AS-mediated effect on positive psychotic symptomatology. AS evaluation could allow a better characterization of psychosis as well as explain the presence of positive symptoms in adults with SSDs who experienced CTA.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.comppsych.2024.152496

Cites

56 of 56 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • In both PTSD and schizophrenia, stress was identified as a common trigger leading the brain to prioritize speed of encoding over accuracy, increasing the chance of formulating precise but inaccurate prior beliefs.

    “In both disorders, stress was identified as a common trigger leading the brain to prioritize speed of encoding over accuracy, increasing the chance of formulating precise but inaccurate prior beliefs (de Filippis et al., 2024; Lyndon and Corlett, 2020).”

    From Predictive coding in neuropsychiatric disorders: a systematic transdiagnostic review. (2025) · cites this paper as de Filippis et al., 2024

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
de Filippis, R., Aloi, M., Liuzza, M. T., Pugliese, V., Carbone, E. A., Rania, M., Segura-Garcia, C., & De Fazio, P.
Affiliations
  • University of Messina (IT)
  • Magna Graecia University (IT)
  • Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria "Renato Dulbecco" (IT)
ORCID
Venue
Comprehensive Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2024-08
Volume
133
Pages
152496
ISSN
0010-440X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.comppsych.2024.152496
OpenAlex
W4396604986
Cited by
6
References
56
Citations by year
2025: 5 · 2024: 1
FWCI
1.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Comprehensive Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
Keywords
aberrant salience, emotional abuse, childhood trauma, childhood adversity, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, positive psychotic symptoms, mediation, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, PANSS
MeSH terms
Adverse Childhood Experiences, Emotional Abuse, Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Psychotic Disorders, Surveys and Questionnaires, Schizophrenia, Schizophrenic Psychology

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review