Dissociation between inattentiveness during mental status testing and social inattentiveness in the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms attention subscale.

The Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) attention subscale has been found valid and reliable by some studies; however, there is some evidence to the contrary. We hypothesized that social inattentiveness (SANS 22) and inattentiveness during mental status testing (SANS 23) might be describing discrete constructs, and this dissociation might be a source of controversy. Thirty-five patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia were assessed by the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS), SANS and a neuropsychological battery. The 2 attention items were not significantly interrelated. SANS 22 was correlated with bizarre behavior and alogia, and none of the neuropsychological test scores, whereas SANS 23 showed strong correlations with the Wechsler Memory Scale mental control subscore, total errors on the Benton Revised Visual Retention Test, and the information, similarities and the general verbal subscores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Regression analyses showed that SANS 23 could be a good estimate of general verbal abilities. These findings point to a dissociation between the 2 SANS attention items. Similar analyses should be repeated in larger and heterogeneous samples and include a factor analysis of the individual items rather than the global ratings.