Mindfulness improves negative psychotic symptoms through reducing emotional and social withdrawal

Table 1 Definition of the positive and negative syndrome scale negative subscales

PANSS negative subscale	Definition
Blunted affect	Diminished emotional responsiveness as characterized by a reduction in facial expression, modulation of feelings, and communicative gestures
Emotional withdrawal	Lack of interest in, involvement with, and affective commitment to life’s events
Poor rapport	Lack of interpersonal empathy, openness in conversation, and sense of closeness, interest, or involvement with the others
Social withdrawal	Diminished interest and initiative in social interactions due to passivity, apathy, anergy, or avolition. This leads to reduced interpersonal involvement and neglect of activities of daily living
Difficulty in abstract thinking	Impairment in the use of the abstract-symbolic mode of thinking, as evidenced by difficulty in classification, forming generalizations, and proceeding beyond concrete or egocentric thinking
Lack of spontaneity and flow of conversation	Reduction in the normal flow of communication associated with apathy, avolition, defensiveness, or cognitive deficit
Stereotyped thinking	Decreased fluidity, spontaneity, and flexibility of thinking, as evidenced in rigid, repetitious, or barren thought content

PANSS: Positive and negative syndrome scale.