What gets in the way of social engagement in schizophrenia?

BACKGROUND Social engagement-important for health and well-being-can be difficult for people with schizophrenia.Past research indicates that despite expressing interest in social interactions,people with schizophrenia report spending less time with others and feeling lonely.Social motivations and barriers may play an important role for understanding social engagement in schizophrenia.AIM To investigate how people with schizophrenia describe factors that impede and promote social engagement.METHODS We interviewed a community sample of people with(n=35)and without(n=27)schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder about their social interactions with friends and family over the past week and planned social activities for the coming week.We reviewed the interview transcripts and developed a novel coding system to capture whether interactions occurred,who had initiated the contact,and frequency of reported social barriers(i.e.,internal,conflict-based,logistical)and social motivations(i.e.,instrumental,affiliative,obligation-based).We also assessed symptoms and functioning.RESULTS People with schizophrenia were less likely than people without schizophrenia to have spent time with friends[t(51.04)=2.09,P=0.042,d=0.51)],but not family.People with schizophrenia reported more social barriers than people without schizophrenia[F(1,60)=10.55,P=0.002,ηp2=0.15)]but did not differ in reported social motivations.Specifically,people with schizophrenia reported more internal[t(45.75)=3.40,P=0.001,d=0.83)]and conflict-based[t(40.11)=3.03,P=0.004,d=0.73)]barriers than people without schizophrenia.Social barriers and motivations were related to real-world social functioning for people with schizophrenia,such that more barriers were associated with more difficulty in close relationships(r=-0.37,P=0.027)and more motivations were associated with better community functioning(r=0.38,P=0.024).CONCLUSION These findings highlight the importance of assessing first person accounts of social barriers and motivations to better understand social engagement in schizophrenia.

Estrogen and oxytocin involvement in social preference in male mice:a study using a novel long-term social preference paradigm with aromatase,estrogen receptor-αand estrogen receptor-β,oxytocin,and oxytocin receptor knockout male mice

Certain aspects of social behavior help animals make adaptive decisions during encounters with other animals.When mice choose to approach another conspecific,the motivation and preference behind the interaction is not well understood.Estrogen and oxytocin are known to influence a wide array of social behaviors,including social motivation and social preference.The present study investigated the effects of estrogen and oxytocin on social preference using aromatase(ArKO),estrogen receptor(ER)α(αERKO),ERβ(βERKO),oxytocin(OTKO),oxytocin receptor(OTRKO)knockout and their respective wild-type(WT)male mice.Mice were presented with gonadally-intact versus castrated male(IC),intact male versus ovariectomized female(IF),or intact male versus empty cage(IE)stimuli sets for 5 days.ArWT showed no preference for either stimuli in IC and IF and intact male preference in IE,but ArKO mice preferred a castrated male or an ovariectomized female,or had no preference for either stimulus in IC,IF and IE stimuli sets,respectively,suggesting reduced intact male preference.αandβWT mice preferred a castrated male,showed no preference,and preferred an intact male in IC,IF and IE,respectively.αERKO mice displayed similar modified social preference patterns as ArKO,whereas the social preference ofβERKO mice remained similar toβWT.OTWT preferred a castrated male whereas OTKO,OTRWT and OTRKO mice failed to show any preference in IC and none showed preference for either stimuli in IF.Collectively,these findings suggest that estrogen regulates social preference in male mice and that impaired social preference in oxytocin-deficient mice may be due to severe deficits in social recognition.