During the prodromal phase of psychosis, individuals may experience an aberrant attribution of salience to irrelevant stimuli. The concept of aberrant salience has been hypothesized to be a central mechanism in the emergence and maintenance of psychosis. The 29-item Aberrant Salience Inventory (ASI) was designed to measure five aspects of aberrant salience. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the French version of the ASI comparing patients with psychosis, patients with other diagnosis and healthy, non-clinical participants. The French-language ASI was adapted using the back-translation procedure. Two hundred and eighty-two participants issued from the general population and 150 psychiatric patients were evaluated. Internal validity was assessed using a two-parameter logistic item response model. Reliability was estimated using a test–retest procedure. Convergent validity was estimated using correlations between the ASI scores and several other scales. Sensitivity was evaluated by comparing the scores of participants with a diagnosis of psychosis, patients with other diagnoses and the general population. The best model distinguished three factors: Enhanced Interpretation and Emotionality, Sharpening of Senses and Heightened Cognition. Reliability and convergent validity estimates were good in both groups. The Sharpening of Senses factor was able to discriminate between patients and the general population. Only the Heightened Cognition factor was able to discriminate patients with psychosis from the other psychiatric patients. The ASI is a valid and reliable tool to study not only the aberrant salience phenomenon in patients with psychosis, but also with other diagnoses and within the general population.

Background Motivational negative symptoms hinder quality of life and daily functioning of individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. A recently developed intervention, Switch, has shown promising effects on negative symptoms and functional outcomes. Switch targets multiple cognitive, emotional and behavioural processes associated with motivation and goal directed behaviours. We aimed to investigate its effects on motivation and associated processes in a naturalistic setting, and to explore the dynamics between the processes. Methods We used a single case approach (n = 3), with a pre-post and follow-up assessment design, which also included ambulatory assessments (experience sampling method, ESM; and step count). We computed autoregressive lag 1 models to evaluate the effects of the intervention on daily motivation levels and related processes, descriptive pie-charts, and vector autoregressive modelling to reveal the dynamics of the processes over time. Results The intervention was beneficial for each participant according to traditional evaluations of motivational negative symptoms, apathy, daily functioning and quality of life. The effects on the ESM variables revealed distinct outcomes for each individual. The dynamics between the various processes differed between participants, and fluctuated within participants (when comparing baseline, intervention phase, and follow-up). Conclusions This study used an innovative approach to look at the effectiveness of an intervention. The intervention seems to lead to meaningful improvements in motivational negative symptoms and functional outcomes. The mechanisms of change need to be further investigated. Trial registration number ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04325100. Registered 27 March 27, 2020 -retrospectively registered. Reporting Guidelines from the Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Non-randomized Designs (TREND) statement were followed.

Objective People diagnosed with schizophrenia experience difficulties in their daily life, which is best explained by motivational negative symptoms. This study explores the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of Switch, a new multifactorial intervention that targets motivational deficits. Method Eight participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder followed around 30 individual sessions of Switch over 12 months. Participants and their informants were interviewed at baseline (T0), at 6 months (T1), at the end of the intervention (T2), and at 6 months follow‐up (T3). Results T0–T1 paired sample t tests showed large improvements on motivational deficits, general negative symptoms, and apathy and functional outcomes (both as rated by informants). At T2 and T3, moderate to large improvements were maintained. Switch was well accepted by participants. Conclusions This preliminary investigation provides evidence that Switch may be a feasible, acceptable, and effective intervention specifically designed to target motivational deficits and improve daily functioning.

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Background : Motivational negative symptoms hinder quality of life and daily functioning of individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. A recently developed intervention, Switch, has shown promising effects on negative symptoms and functional outcomes. Switch targets multiple cognitive, emotional and behavioural processes associated with motivation and goal directed behaviours. We aimed to investigate its effects on motivation and associated processes in a naturalistic setting, and to explore the dynamics between the processes. Methods : We used a single case approach ( n = 3), with a pre-post and follow-up assessment design, which also included ambulatory assessments (experience sampling method, ESM; and step count). We computed autoregressive lag 1 models to evaluate the effects of the intervention on daily motivation levels and related processes, descriptive pie-charts, and vector autoregressive modelling to reveal the dynamics of the processes over time. Results : The intervention was beneficial for each participant according to traditional evaluations of motivational negative symptoms, apathy, daily functioning and quality of life. The effects on the ESM variables revealed distinct outcomes for each individual. The dynamics between the various processes differed between participants, and fluctuated within participants (when comparing baseline, intervention phase, and follow-up). Conclusions : This study used an innovative approach to look at the effectiveness of an intervention. The intervention seems to lead to meaningful improvements in motivational negative symptoms and functional outcomes. The mechanisms of change need to be further investigated.