Effects of Positive Affect on Speech Disorder in Schizophrenia

Speech disorder exacerbates when negative affect is aroused in patients with schizophrenia. However, little is known about the effects of positive affect on speech disorder. A well-validated laboratory procedure was used to determine whether arousal of positive affect would modulate speech disorder in 57 stable outpatients with schizophrenia and 48 community controls. Overall, the level of speech disorder modulation was negligible for both groups, although there was considerable variability in whether patients' speech disorder exacerbated or ameliorated. Results suggest that arousal of positive affect has an ameliorative effect on speech disorder for certain patients who have relatively severe symptomatology.