Replicating and extending the reliability, criterion validity, and treatment sensitivity of the shortened PANSS for pediatric trials

Authors

Joan Busner, Signant Health, Blue Bell, PA, USA. joan.busner@signanthealth.com.
Eric A. Youngstrom, Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University, Helping Give Away Psychological Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Joshua A. Langfus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
David G. Daniel, Signant Health, McLean, VA, USA.
Robert L. Findling, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

3-10-2025

Journal

European child & adolescent psychiatry

DOI

10.1007/s00787-025-02681-1

Keywords

Assessment; Child psychiatry; PANSS; Pediatric; Psychopharmacology; Schizophrenia

Abstract

Do the shortened Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) (Kay et al., J Clin Psychiatry 58:538-546, 1987) versions recently developed from a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) pediatric dataset continue to perform well in a third independent randomized double-blind clinical trial of adolescents with schizophrenia? Secondary analysis of the double-blind, placebo-controlled aripiprazole pivotal trial data (N = 302) found that the 10-item (and 20-item) PANSS versions on which we have previously reported (Findling et al., J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2022.07.864 , 2023) continued to provide high reliability, strong convergent correlation with expected measures, and treatment effects that equaled those found in the 30-item adult PANSS. Our shortened PANSS, derived originally from the randomized non-placebo controlled NIMH Treatment of Early Onset Schizophrenia Spectrum study (TEOSS) (Sikich et al., Am J Psychiatry 165(11):1420-1431, 2008), and independently replicated in both the placebo-controlled paliperidone pivotal trial for adolescents with schizophrenia (Youngstrom et al., PsyArxiv, https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/zb695 , 2023), and now the placebo-controlled aripiprazole pivotal trial for adolescents with schizophrenia, has again performed as well as the full 30 item adult-patient derived PANSS. The findings suggest it is possible to reduce the PANSS interview by 2 thirds, thus reducing burden on families and pediatric patients as well as administration and training costs, while maintaining high reliability, validity, and sensitivity to treatment equal to that of the 30-item version.

APA Citation

Busner, Joan; Youngstrom, Eric A.; Langfus, Joshua A.; Daniel, David G.; and Findling, Robert L., "Replicating and extending the reliability, criterion validity, and treatment sensitivity of the shortened PANSS for pediatric trials" (2025). GW Authored Works. Paper 6837.
https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/gwhpubs/6837

Department

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences