POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS IN THE PSYCHOSES - PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS-ANALYSIS OF ITEMS FROM THE SCALE FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF POSITIVE SYMPTOMS AND THE SCALE FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS

Abstract

The present study investigated the factor structure of the items contained in Andreasen's scales for the assessment of positive and negative symptoms (SAPS and SANS) by use of a series of principal components analyses (PCAs) with oblique rotations of the axes. It was found that the structure could be summarized by three major components labeled negative symptoms, thought disorder, and delusions/hallucinations. Dimensionality could meaningfully be increased to five components. Negative symptoms was found to separate into two components that we labeled negative signs and social dysfunctions. The delusions/hallucinations factor could be separated into two components, delusions and hallucination..