Although the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders introduces no change on the
diagnostic B criteria (social/occupational dysfunction) for schizophrenia, some changes made in the A criteria should be
taken into consideration when planning to offer SST to a person presenting negative symptoms and poor social functioning. Experts have found that avolition and diminished emotional expression are key aspects of negative symptoms; and they consider that diminished emotional expression describes better the nature of the affect abnormality in schizophrenia than the affective flattening. Thus, the A criteria’s fifth characteristic is now negative symptoms, i.e. diminished emotional
expression and avolition