Language and hope in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. (30th November 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bonfils, Kelsey A.; Luther, Lauren; Firmin, Ruth L.; Lysaker, Paul H.; Minor, Kyle S.; Salyers, Michelle P.
• Is Part Of: Psychiatry research. Volume 245(2016)
• Page Start: 8
• Page End: 14
• Publication Date: 2016-11-30
• Subjects: Recovery -- Speech -- Goals -- Lexical analysis -- Psychosis; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- periodicals; Psychiatrie -- Périodiques; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2016.08.013
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0165-1781

Abstract

Abstract: Hope is integral to recovery for those with schizophrenia. Considering recent advancements in the examination of clients' lexical qualities, we were interested in how clients' words reflect hope. Using computerized lexical analysis, we examined social, emotion, and future words' relations to hope and its pathways and agency components. Forty-five clients provided detailed narratives about their life and mental illness. Transcripts were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count program (LIWC), which assigns words to categories (e.g., "anxiety") based on a pre-existing dictionary. Correlations and linear multiple regression were used to examine relationships between lexical qualities and hope. Hope and its subcomponents had significant or trending bivariate correlations in expected directions with several emotion-related word categories (anger and sadness) but were not associated with expected categories such as social words, positive emotions, optimism, achievement, and future words. In linear multiple regressions, no LIWC variable significantly predicted hope agency, but anger words significantly predicted both total hope and hope pathways. Our findings indicate lexical analysis tools can be used to investigate recovery-oriented concepts such as hope, and results may inform clinical practice. Future research should aim to replicate our findings in larger samples. Highlights: Hope is integral to recovery in schizophrenia, but its relation to speech is unknown. Lexical analysis of transcribed life narratives were examined. Total hope, agency hope, and pathways hope correlated with lexical variables. Anger words most strongly predicted total and pathways hope.