From Memories of Past Experiences to Present Motivation? A Meta-analysis on the Association Between Episodic Memory and Negative Symptoms in People With Psychosis

TY - JOUR

T1 - From Memories of Past Experiences to Present Motivation? A Meta-analysis on the Association Between Episodic Memory and Negative Symptoms in People With Psychosis

AU - Pillny, Matthias

AU - Krkovic, Katarina

AU - Buck, Laura

AU - Lincoln, Tania M

N1 - © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

PY - 2022/3/1

Y1 - 2022/3/1

N2 - Based on findings from cognitive science, it has been theorized that the reductions in motivation and goal-directed behavior in people with psychosis could stem from impaired episodic memory. In the current meta-analysis, we investigated this putative functional link between episodic memory deficits and negative symptoms. We hypothesized that episodic memory deficits in psychosis would be related to negative symptoms in general but would be more strongly related to amotivation than to reduced expressivity. We included 103 eligible studies (13,622 participants) in the analyses. Results revealed significant, moderate negative associations of episodic memory with negative symptoms in general (k = 103; r = -.23; z = -13.40; P ≤ .001; 95% CI [-.26; -.20]), with amotivation (k = 16; r = -.18; z = -6.6; P ≤ .001; 95% CI [-.23; -.13]) and with reduced expressivity (k = 15; r = -.18; z = -3.30; P ≤.001; 95% CI[-.29; -.07]). These associations were not moderated by sociodemographic characteristics, positive symptoms, depression, antipsychotic medication or type of negative symptom scale. Although these findings provide sound evidence for the association between episodic memory deficits and amotivation, the rather small magnitude and the unspecific pattern of this relationship also indicate that episodic memory deficits are unlikely to be the only factor relevant to amotivation. This implicates that future research should investigate episodic memory in conjunction with other factors that could account for the association of episodic memory deficits and amotivation in psychosis.

AB - Based on findings from cognitive science, it has been theorized that the reductions in motivation and goal-directed behavior in people with psychosis could stem from impaired episodic memory. In the current meta-analysis, we investigated this putative functional link between episodic memory deficits and negative symptoms. We hypothesized that episodic memory deficits in psychosis would be related to negative symptoms in general but would be more strongly related to amotivation than to reduced expressivity. We included 103 eligible studies (13,622 participants) in the analyses. Results revealed significant, moderate negative associations of episodic memory with negative symptoms in general (k = 103; r = -.23; z = -13.40; P ≤ .001; 95% CI [-.26; -.20]), with amotivation (k = 16; r = -.18; z = -6.6; P ≤ .001; 95% CI [-.23; -.13]) and with reduced expressivity (k = 15; r = -.18; z = -3.30; P ≤.001; 95% CI[-.29; -.07]). These associations were not moderated by sociodemographic characteristics, positive symptoms, depression, antipsychotic medication or type of negative symptom scale. Although these findings provide sound evidence for the association between episodic memory deficits and amotivation, the rather small magnitude and the unspecific pattern of this relationship also indicate that episodic memory deficits are unlikely to be the only factor relevant to amotivation. This implicates that future research should investigate episodic memory in conjunction with other factors that could account for the association of episodic memory deficits and amotivation in psychosis.

KW - Adult

KW - Antipsychotic Agents/pharmacology

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Memory, Episodic

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Motivation

KW - Psychotic Disorders/complications

KW - Schizophrenia/drug therapy

U2 - 10.1093/schbul/sbab120

DO - 10.1093/schbul/sbab120

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 34635918

VL - 48

SP - 307

EP - 324

JO - SCHIZOPHRENIA BULL

JF - SCHIZOPHRENIA BULL

SN - 0586-7614

IS - 2

ER -