Prevalence and longitudinal stability of negative symptoms in healthy participants.

Objective: Although negative symptoms are prominent in older patients with schizophrenia, it is unknown whether this pattern is prevalent in healthy participants. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether negative symptoms are present in healthy populations and to determine whether they are linked to illness-related processes or normal aging.

Methods: A systemic review of 26 studies that have administered negative symptom assessments to healthy participants was conducted.