Reward responsiveness in psychosis-prone groups: Hypomania and negative schizotypy

Reward responsiveness is abnormal in mania and the negative symptoms of psychosis. Both disorders can be examined in subclinical forms (hypomania and negative schizotypy) in analogue populations. Five hundred and seventeen students completed measures of depressive, schizotypal and hypomanic symptoms online and were tested for behavioural activation, savouring ability and ability to enjoy experiences over time. Correlation and regression techniques demonstrated unexpectedly that hypomania was not negatively correlated with negative schizotypy. The ability to savour positive events was impaired in relation to anhedonia but not in relation to hypomania, which was related to behavioural activation scores. Future research should investigate whether these findings are upheld in clinical populations.