Abstract:Objective To explore the relationship among different psychotic symptoms in communitydwelling patients with schizophrenia, so as to provide a basis for the development of clinical interventions for schizophrenia. Methods A total of 631 community-dwelling schizophrenia patients from four districts in Shanghai between January and December 2022 were selected as study subjects, and basic information was collected through questionnaires. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale( BPRS) was used to assess patients' psychotic symptoms. Network analysis was used to construct symptom networks and perform network estimation, centrality, and stability analysis to investigate the relationships among disease symptoms. Results Among the enrolled patients, 278 were male( 44.06%,278/631); a relatively high proportion had a college/undergraduate degrees or above[ 247 cases( 39.14%,247/631)], were married[ 295 cases( 46.75%,295/631)], were unemployed[ 430 cases( 68.15%,430/631)], and were taking antipsychotic medications[ 610 cases( 96.67%, 610/631)]. The incidence of anxiety symptoms was the highest among psychotic symptoms, accounting for 45.96%( 290/631). In the symptom network, "somatic concern" and "anxiety" were most closely associated, with a normalized partial correlation coefficient of 0.381; "mannerism and posturing" had the highest intensity and proximity, at 1.486 and 2.002, respectively; "mannerism and posturing" and "emotional withdrawal" had the highest mediating effects, both at 2.151; "mannerism and posturing" and "unusual thought content" had the highest expected impact indices, at 1.581 and 1.576, respectively, making them core nodes in the network. Conclusions There is a complex network of associations among psychotic symptoms in community-dwelling patients with schizophrenia. "Mannerism and posturing" and "unusual thought content" are the core symptoms of patients, suggesting that future healthcare professionals can develop precise intervention strategies based on the core symptoms to prevent disease recurrence and promote patient recovery.