Is psychomotor retardation a sixth domain of negative symptoms?

Authors

Brian Kirkpatrick, Alex S Cohen, Alexandra Hammond, Ana Catalan, Stefan Kaiser, Anna Mane, Marta Martin-Subero, Philippe Robert, Gabriel Robert, Javier Vazquez-Bourgon, Yi-Jie Zhao, Noham Wolpe, Silvana Galderisi, Armida Mucci, Emilio Fernandez-Egea

Published in

Schizophrenia research. Volume 298. Pages 254-260. Oct 22, 2026. Epub Oct 22, 2026.

Abstract

The five canonical domains of negative symptoms in schizophrenia - blunted affect, alogia, asociality, anhedonia, and avolition - were established by a consensus process. Meta-analyses have placed psychomotor retardation (PMR) rating scale items in negative symptom factors, suggesting it may be a sixth negative symptom domain.
We pooled data from two cross-sectional, multicenter, international studies of schizophrenia (N = 271) and used PANSS item G7 (Motor Retardation) as a measure of PMR. In multivariate analyses we examined G7 as a predictor of cognitive function, personal and social function, and negative symptoms other than PMR. We also examined whether G7 mediated the association between extrapyramidal symptoms and negative symptoms.
In some analyses the G7 factor had relationships characteristic of the five canonical domains: correlations with those negative symptoms and negative correlations with function and cognition. However, other findings were consistent with its classification as a motor symptom: significant correlations with the PANSS Mannerism and Posturing item and with extrapyramidal symptoms, and mediation of the relationship between extrapyramidal symptoms and the canonical negative symptoms. There was no significant relationship with self-reported hours of sleep.
PMR showed associations with negative symptoms, cognitive impairment, and functional outcome, consistent with status as a sixth negative symptom domain. However, other findings leave unclear whether it should be considered a negative symptom, a motor symptom, or something more complex. Problems in the G7 item definition and description contribute to this uncertainty.

PMID:
42913281
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 24 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.