Relating movement markers of schizophrenia to self-experience—a mixed-methods study
Lily A. L. Martin, David Melchert, Monika Knack, Thomas Fuchs
Frontiers in Psychiatry June 21, 2023 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1212508 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort with qualitative and quantitative analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with schizophrenia |
| Keywords | Schizophrenia object-oriented programming Clinical psychology Cognitive psychology |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key findings | Movement markers derived from gait patterns are associated with basic self-disorders, especially in cognition, self-experience, and bodily experiences, with higher marker scores trending toward more intense descriptions of hyperreflexivity. |
Abstract
Introduction: Basic self-disorders on the one hand and motor symptoms on the other hand are discussed as endophenotypes of schizophrenia psychopathology. However, the systematic interaction between motor symptoms and the self-experience of patients is rarely studied.
Methods: In a previous study we defined motor markers of schizophrenia via a data-driven analysis of patients' gait patterns. In this study, we related the movement markers to measures of basic self-disorder obtained with EASE interviews. We substantiated the correlations with a qualitative content analysis of the interviews of a subset of four patients. We related qualitative and quantitative data on an intra- and interpersonal level.
Results: Our results suggest an association between the previously defined, theory-independent movement markers and basic self-disorders, specifically in the domain of cognition, self-experience and bodily experiences. While movement marker manifestation was not precisely reflected in the individuals' descriptions of anomalous self- and body experience, we found clear trends of more and more intense descriptions with increasing movement marker scores, when looking at specific experiences, such as hyper reflexivity.
Discussion: These results foster an integrated view of the patient and could stimulate therapeutic approaches aiming at an improvement of self- and body-experience of patients with schizophrenia.