Title

Schizotypal personality disorder or prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia?

Authors

Authors

J. S. Bedwell;R. S. Donnelly

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

Schizophr. Res.

Keywords

schizotypal; prodromal; schizophrenia; discriminant validity; at-risk; SEX-DIFFERENCES; RISK; ADOLESCENTS; PSYCHOSIS; POPULATION; RELATIVES; VALIDITY; SPECTRUM; FEATURES; GENDER; Psychiatry

Abstract

Schizotypal personality disorder shares some attenuated phenotypic features with schizophrenia, but represents an independent syndrome. In contrast, prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia represent early warning signs of the impending onset of schizophrenia. Although these constructs are intended to reflect independent syndromes, self-report instruments measuring these constructs assess similar symptoms. It does not appear that existing research has examined the relative discriminant validity of screening instruments for these syndromes. A sample of 998 young adults (68% female; 73% Caucasian), within the age of risk for schizophrenia (ages 18-34; mean 20.4 +/- 2.2), met validity criteria after completing online versions of the Abbreviated Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ-B) and the 24-item Abbreviated Youth Psychosis at Risk Questionnaire (Y-PARQ-B). Based on clinical cut-off scores used in previous research, 5.2% were [only] considered at heightened risk for psychosis (potentially prodromal), 3.4% had [only] schizotypal personality features, and 2.9% met criteria for both constructs (75% of individuals meeting cutoff for one measure did not meet criteria for the other). Males and younger participants scored significantly higher on both measures. The total scores from the SPQ-B and Y-PARQ-B showed a significant positive correlation (r(s) = .66, p < .001, R-2 = .43); however, 57% of the variance was not shared between the measures. Of the three SPQ-B subscales, Cognitive-Perceptual showed the strongest correlation with Y-PARQ-B. Results suggest that the SPQ-B and Y-PARQ-B have moderate discriminate validity between the overlapping, yet distinct, constructs of schizotypal personality and heightened risk of developing psychosis (potentially prodromal). (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Journal Title

Schizophrenia Research

Volume

80

Issue/Number

2-3

Publication Date

1-1-2005

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

263

Last Page

269

WOS Identifier

WOS:000234757600013

ISSN

0920-9964

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