Do People With Schizophrenia Enjoy Social Activities as Much as Everyone Else? A Meta-analysis of Consummatory Social Pleasure

Abstract

Background The “emotion paradox” of schizophrenia suggests people with schizophrenia demonstrate deficits when reporting anticipated and retrospective pleasure; yet, in-the-moment, consummatory pleasure is largely intact. It is uncertain how these findings extend to social situations. This meta-analysis aimed to (1) determine the mean difference in 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. Design A literature search using PsycINFO, Web of Science, Pubmed, and EMBASE databases was conducted. Studies measuring consummatory social pleasure using experience sampling methods and laboratory social simulations were included. Random effects meta-analyses were conducted using Hedge’s g. Results Meta-analysis of 26 studies suggests people with schizophrenia exhibited a small, significant deficit in consummatory social pleasure (g = −0.38, 90% CI [−0.53, −0.22]). There was significant heterogeneity in effect sizes; magnitude was moderated by study design and type of measure used to assess social pleasure. Conclusions Overall, people with schizophrenia seem to exhibit less consummatory social pleasure than controls. However, this deficit is smaller than in studies of anticipated and retrospective pleasure. Thus, consummatory social pleasure may not be quite as impaired in people with schizophrenia as traditional anhedonia research suggests. Moreover, pleasure deficits observed in people with schizophrenia may result from differences in the quality of their daily social experiences rather than differences in their capacity for social pleasure. Results have important implications for clinical interventions that address barriers to social engagement, low-pleasure beliefs, and cognitive remediation to treat schizophrenia.

Social Activity in Schizotypy: Measuring Frequency and Enjoyment of Social Events

“…Follow-up studies are needed to assess whether these ratings change over time and how closely they overlap with ratings on ambulatory assessments. Second, the study only examined social activities at one time point and did not examine the quality of the interactions occurring in these activities; see [ 22 , 34 , 52 ]. Exploring temporal relationships and the types of interactions people engage in during social activities could provide additional information on whether lower scores represent a lack of interest or lower engagement in social situations.…”

Efficacy and safety of Xiaoyao Pill combined with Western medicine in the treatment of schizophrenia: A Meta-analysis and Systematic review

“…Its clinical features primarily include behavioral, emotional, and cognitive inconsistencies, as well as detachment from the real environment. [1,2] In recent years, the incidence of schizophrenia has been steadily increasing, often recurring with symptoms gradually worsening, leading to a decline in patients’ social functioning, and possibly even mental deterioration, significantly impacting their quality of life. [3,4] Assessment of symptoms associated with schizophrenia relied on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).…”

Cognitive Control in Schizophrenia: Advances in Computational Approaches

“…We will use the example of initiating social activities as an example of challenges in proactive cognitive control in schizophrenia. When people with schizophrenia engage in social interactions with others, they often experience similar amounts of pleasure, or only very modestly less pleasure, as those without schizophrenia (Abel et al, 2023). However, they are less likely to initiate or maintain goals to obtain future social interactions, despite the desire for more social interactions in their lives (Catalano & Green, 2023).…”