Grip Strength Lower in Schizophrenia and Depression, Study Finds

Key Clinical Summary

• In a cross-sectional analysis of 533 participants, grip strength was lower in schizophrenia, current major depressive disorder (MDD), and remitted MDD than in healthy controls.
• Both depression groups had lower grip strength than the schizophrenia group, and no significant difference was seen between current and remitted depression.
• In schizophrenia, lower grip strength was associated with greater negative symptom burden, particularly avolition, affect, and alogia.

A research letter published in JAMA Psychiatry reports that reduced grip strength may represent a transdiagnostic marker across schizophrenia and depression, including remitted depression.

Study Findings

Researchers pooled data from 5 studies across 2 sites to compare motor performance across psychiatric groups and healthy controls. The analysis included 533 participants: 175 with schizophrenia, 79 with current major depressive disorder (MDD), 104 with remitted MDD, and 175 healthy controls. Mean grip strength was 29.4 kg in schizophrenia, 23.7 kg in current depression, 24.5 kg in remitted depression, and 30.7 kg in healthy controls. Researchers averaged 3 dominant-hand trials using an electronic hand dynamometer and controlled analyses for age and sex.

Group, age, and sex were all significant predictors of grip strength. Healthy controls had significantly greater grip strength than participants with schizophrenia (t₅₂₇ = 2.4; P = .02), current depression (t₅₂₇ = −4.9; P < .001), and remitted depression (t₅₂₇ = 5.2; P < .001). The schizophrenia group outperformed both current depression and remitted depression groups (both t₅₂₇ = −2.9; P = .006), while the 2 depression groups did not differ from each other (t₅₂₇ = −0.2; P = .80).

In schizophrenia, grip strength correlated negatively with overall negative symptoms (𝜌 = −0.23; P = .01), with significant associations across avolition, affect, and alogia domains. Sex-specific analyses showed symptom-related associations mainly in males with schizophrenia (𝜌 = −0.28; P = .03) or depression (𝜌 = 0.48; P = .04), but not in females.

Clinical Implications

The findings suggest that reduced grip strength may capture shared motor and motivational dysfunction across major psychiatric disorders rather than being specific to a single diagnosis. The persistence of lower grip strength in remitted depression is clinically notable because it suggests psychomotor abnormalities may continue even after depressive symptoms improve.

For clinicians, grip strength is an attractive biomarker because it is simple, low-cost, and already recognized as a reliable indicator of physical and mental health. However, this study does not establish causality or define how grip strength should be used in routine psychiatric assessment.

The authors also note several limitations, including lack of adjustment for body mass index, occupation, physical activity, hormonal status, medication use, cross-sectional design, and pooled data from 2 sites.

Expert Commentary

“The results highlight low grip strength as a potential transdiagnostic biomarker, reflecting motor and motivational dysfunction, persisting into remission, and showing diagnosis and sex-specific symptom associations,” wrote Sofie von Känel, MSc, Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Switzerland, and study co-authors in the discussion. “This underscores the value of grip strength for early detection and intervention that should be examined in other psychiatric disorders beyond schizophrenia and depression.”

Reference

von Känel S, Pavlidou A, Nadesalingam N, et al. Transdiagnostic patterns of grip strength in schizophrenia, current depression, and remitted depression. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online March 18, 2026. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2026.0144