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• Current systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies that investigate the association between cannabis use and psychosis-related outcomes across the psychosis continuum show discrepant results and do not allow causal inferences. • Cannabis use was found to be associated with subclinical psychosis states (psychotic-like experiences) and traits (schizotypal personality) in the healthy population, as well as earlier onset and development of psychosis. • Cannabis use neither seems to be associated with the Clinical-high-risk state for psychosis nor with attenuated symptom severity and transition to psychosis in this population. An association in the psychosis population could only be confirmed between cannabis and relapse, not symptom severity. • More primary studies are needed to define the interplay between cannabis use and other environmental and genetic factors using large-scale genetic and epigenetic studies. While the legal status and public perception of cannabis are currently changing in many countries, one of the important considerations from a public health viewpoint is its potential association with adverse health outcomes such as the development of psychosis. We conducted an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses using the AMSTAR-2 to assess the quality of included reviews. We further created an evidence map to visualize and facilitate the overview of the published evidence synthesis on the association between cannabis use and all psychosis-related outcomes and risk moderators in healthy, high-risk, and clinical populations. Overall, we found 32 systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Based on a synthesis of current evidence, cannabis use is associated with subclinical psychosis states (psychotic-like experiences) and traits (schizotypal personality) in the healthy population, as well as earlier onset and development of psychosis. An association with the clinical-high-risk state for psychosis, attenuated psychosis symptoms and transition to psychosis in this population could not be confirmed. An association between cannabis use and psychosis outcomes in patients with psychotic disorder could solely be confirmed regarding relapse. Whether causal effects underlie those associations has not sufficiently been addressed in the evidence synthesis to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Schizotypal personality disorder is a mental health disorder which has increasingly gained attention, particularly in children and adolescents, yet the screening tool is limited. • Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire – Child (SPQ-C) was developed to screen for schizotypy in young children and adolescents. • The Chinese version of the SPQ-C replicated a three factor structure with adequate psychometric properties. • Partial measurement invariance was achieved across gender and residence. • Good convergent validity was established between the SPQ-C and other standardized parent- and teacher-rated measures of children's behavioral problems. The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) is one of the most widely used screening tools for schizotypy in adults. The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Child version (SPQ-C) was recently developed to assess schizotypy in children and has a similar three-factor structure to the adult SPQ (i.e., Cognitive-Perceptual, Interpersonal-Affective, and Disorganization). However, few studies to date have reported on the psychometric properties and the usefulness of the SPQ-C in Eastern populations, including Mainland China. This study presents the first psychometric assessment of the Chinese SPQ-C in Mainland China. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to assess the factor structure of the SPQ-C in 1668 children (M = 12.10, SD = 0.60 years) from the China Jintan Child Cohort Study. Our findings document a three-factor structure and partial measurement invariance across residential location and gender, replicating the psychometric properties of the SPQ-C in English. The Chinese SPQ-C further correlates with standard behavioral problems (i.e., Child Behavior Checklist, Youth Self-Report and Teacher Report Form), demonstrating construct validity and utility as a child psychopathology assessment tool. Our findings provide the first robust psychometric evidence for a three-factor structure of the Chinese SPQ-C in a large Mainland Chinese sample, and suggest that the SPQ-C is suitable as a screening tool for schizotypy in community children who may be at risk for behavioral problems and later psychosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • HsCRP was positively correlated with the SPQ negative factor. • Emotional neglect negatively predicted SSRT, positive schizotypy positively predicted SSRT. • HsCRP significantly interacted with positive schizotypy in predicting SSRT. Abstract This study aimed to measure the associations between high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), childhood maltreatment (CM), schizotypy and response inhibition, and to explore the interactions between hsCRP, CM and schizotypy on response inhibition. Two hundred and fourteen participants completed the Stop-Signal Task (SST), the Schizotypy Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ), which measured response inhibition, schizotypy and history of CM respectively. The level of hsCRP was also measured. The high schizotypy group (n = 114) had higher scores on SPQ and CTQ, higher hsCRP levels and longer SST reaction times (SSRTs) than the low schizotypy group (n = 100). In female participants, SSRT had a positive correlation with the SPQ positive factor and the disorganized SPQ factor and a positive correlation with physical neglect. HsCRP was positively correlated with the SPQ negative factor and positive SPQ factor. In male participants, SSRT was negatively correlated with emotional neglect and physical neglect. The majority of correlations between CTQ and SPQ variables were significant in both female and male participants. In female participants, hsCRP significantly predicted SSRT, and hsCRP significantly interacted with positive schizotypy in predicting SSRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Schizotypy in multiplex but not simplex relatives depends on paternal age at birth. • Paternal age at birth affects cognitive functions mainly in multiplex relatives. • Complex processing speed does not depend on paternal age in both relatives' groups. • The findings have implications in intervention programs for psychosis. Abstract Studies comparing cognitive processes between familial and sporadic schizophrenia have yielded inconsistent findings. In this study we examined differences in neurocognition and schizotypal traits in unaffected relatives of schizophrenia-spectrum patients with either the familial (multiplex) or the sporadic (simplex) subtype of the disorder, taking paternal age at birth into consideration. Simplex (n = 65; SR), multiplex (n = 35; MR) relatives and controls (n = 114) were compared on several cognitive functions and schizotypal traits; between-group differences were evaluated with and without including paternal age in the analyses. SR and MR had higher negative and paranoid traits compared with controls, but paternal age abolished the differences between the SR and control groups. When taking into account schizotypal traits and participants' age, controls outperformed MR in strategy formation and set-shifting and SR in psychomotor speed, set-shifting and executive working memory. After including paternal age in the analyses, controls outperformed MR in strategy formation, working memory and executive working memory and both groups in psychomotor speed and set-shifting. These findings suggest that multiplex relatives present with a "riskier" personality and cognitive profile when considering the effects of paternal age. Nevertheless, simplex relatives are impaired in fundamental cognitive processes, thus highlighting the detrimental effects of paternal age on neurocognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Research associating fluency and psychosis proneness has yielded conflicting results. • Participants responded to oral and written semantic and phonological fluency tasks. • Schizotypy was not reliably associated to productivity or originality of the responses. • Results do not support an association between schizotypy and semantic disturbances. Abstract Semantic disturbances have been proposed as a possible cause of formal thought disorder in schizophrenia. Fluency tasks, in which volunteers are asked to produce as many exemplars as they can for a given category during one minute, are usually applied to the assessment of semantic processing. However, studies associating fluency and proneness to psychosis have provided conflicting results so it is not clear whether these disturbances can be identified at subclinical stages. We conducted two experiments. In the first one, 71 volunteers completed written category fluency tasks with four semantic categories (animals, fruits, clothing and vehicles). In the second experiment, 77 new participants completed oral category and phonological fluency tasks (words starting with f, t, p and c). In both experiments, we assessed schizotypal personality and vocabulary size. Schizotypal traits were not reliably associated with either productivity or originality of the responses in any experiment. In contrast, vocabulary size significantly predicted the participants' scores in all the tasks. Along with results of other recent studies, our data cast doubt on the reliability of previous observations pointing out an association between schizotypy and lexical-semantic disturbances, at least in relation to productivity and originality in fluency tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Schizotypy and anhedonic depression were positively associated with pain following a physical endurance/effort task. • These results hold true after accounting for age, sex, task performance, average hours of exercise per week, and baseline pain. • Hypomania was not associated with pain following a physical endurance/effort task. Abstract People with serious mental illness (SMI) are at an increased risk for physical health complications, such as cardiovascular disease and obesity. Low levels of physical activity is a major contributor to these health complications. One factor associated with limited physical activity in the broader sedentary population is pain. While preliminary findings suggest an association between lack of physical activity and pain in SMI, conclusions are still unclear. Thus, the goal of this correlational study was to examine associations between trait-based risk for psychopathology (hypomanic personality, schizotypy, and anhedonic depression) and the experience of pain following a physical endurance/effort task. Healthy participants (N = 43; 18 females) completed self-report measures of trait-based risk for psychopathology. They also reported on the experience of pain before and after the Time To Exhaustion (TTE) test. Findings revealed that risk for psychosis and anhedonic depression were associated with increases in pain following the TTE test, accounting for other key variables, such as age and self-reported physical exercise. Risk for mania was unrelated to changes in pain. These results suggest that the experience of pain in relation to physical endurance/effort may contribute to diminished physical activity among people at risk for SMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Schizotypy offers a useful construct for investigating the etiology, development, and expression of schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology, as well as the comorbid expression of mood and anxiety disorders across the schizophrenia spectrum. The present study examined the associations of positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy with affective symptoms and experiences in a sample of MTurk workers and college students (n = 575). Participants completed the Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale (MSS) and measures of depression, anxiety, social phobia, hypomanic traits, and state affect. As expected, positive schizotypy was significantly associated with hypomanic traits, whereas negative schizotypy was associated with reduced positive affect and reduced hypomanic traits. Although prior research has emphasized the association of positive schizotypy with depression and anxiety, the current results demonstrate that disorganized schizotypy is more strongly associated with elevated negative affect (over-and-above positive schizotypy). As such, these findings highlight the importance of examining disorganization of affect, in addition to the cognitive-behavioral deficits traditionally associated with disorganized schizotypy. Finally, the MSS and MSS-Brief demonstrated closely comparable findings. The present results provide further support for the construct validity of the MSS and the three-factor model of schizotypy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Adolescence is a critical period in the development of social and mental wellbeing. • The link between different aspects of schizotypy and social functioning is unclear. • Positive schizotypy is associated with increased peer-relationship problems. • Negative schizotypy is associated with decreased prosocial behavior. • Results have implication for interventions addressing social dysfunction in adolescence. Abstract Difficulties in social functioning have been linked to schizotypy, which may reflect vulnerability to psychotic disorders. We investigated these links in early adolescence, a developmental stage when many mental illnesses first emerge. Using the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire and The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences, we examined the association of peer-relationship problems and prosocial behavior with positive and negative schizotypy in a sample of 149 school children (70 girls, 79 boys) between 12 and 15 years old. The results showed that while increased positive schizotypy was significantly associated with increased peer-relationship problems, increased negative schizotypy was significantly associated with decreased prosocial behavior. These effects were observed after the potential effects of age, sex, general cognitive abilities, the ability to infer affective mental states, anxiety, and depression had been taken into account. These results suggest that different dimensions of schizotypy are associated with different aspects of social dysfunction in adolescents. Interventions aimed at improving social functioning in adolescence would benefit from considering these unique associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Links tested among defeatist performance and self-efficacy beliefs and negative symptoms. • There was a medium-sized, inverse correlation between the belief types. • Both beliefs correlated with negative symptoms; defeatist performance beliefs' link was stronger. • These two belief types seem to be distinct but overlapping constructs. • Defeatist performance beliefs may have a greater role in negative symptoms. Abstract The cognitive model of negative symptoms posits that defeatist performance beliefs—overgeneralized negative beliefs about one's ability to successfully perform tasks—contribute to the development and maintenance of negative symptoms. However, a conceptually similar construct, reduced generalized self-efficacy—diminished confidence in one's ability to effectively complete or respond to new or challenging tasks and situations—has also been linked to negative symptoms. To identify which beliefs might be most important to target to reduce negative symptoms, we examined: 1) the association between defeatist performance and self-efficacy beliefs and 2) which beliefs are more strongly associated with negative symptoms in a non-clinical sample of young adults (N = 941). Analyses revealed a significant, medium-sized correlation between defeatist performance and self-efficacy beliefs. Both beliefs types were significantly associated with negative symptoms, but defeatist performance beliefs were more strongly related to negative symptoms than self-efficacy beliefs. Defeatist performance and self-efficacy beliefs appear to be distinct yet overlapping constructs. Findings support the cognitive model and indicate that defeatist performance beliefs may have a greater role in the manifestation of negative symptoms than self-efficacy beliefs. Thus, defeatist performance beliefs may be a uniquely promising treatment target for reducing or preventing negative symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlight • Confirmatory factor analysis indicated support for the 4-factor structure of SPQ-G. • Other models (2- and 3-factor models) had poorer fit indices. • Partial measurement invariance was obtained across migrational group and sex. • Non-migrants had higher Cognitive-Perceptual scores than German migrants. Abstract The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) is a widely-used self-report instrument for the assessment of schizotypal personality traits. However, the factor structure of scores on English and non-English translations of the SPQ has been a matter of debate. With little previous factorial evaluation of the German version of the SPQ (SPQ-G), we re-assessed the higher-order factor structure of the measure. A total of 2,428 German-speaking adults from Central Europe (CE) and the United Kingdom (UK) completed the SPQ-G. Confirmatory factor analysis – testing proposed 2-, 3-, and 4-factor models of SPQ-G scores – indicated that the 4-factor solution had best fit. Partial measurement invariance across cultural group (CE and UK) and sex was obtained for the 4-factor model. Further analyses showed CE participants had significantly higher scores than UK participants on one schizotypal facet. These results suggest that scores on the SPQ-G are best explained in terms of a higher-order, 4-factor solution in German migrant and non-migrant adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Schizotypy measures are similar concerning positive and negative traits. • Schizotypy measures are highly invariant concerning disorganized traits. • Scale content is invariant despite similar scale-/facet-names. • Schizotypy measures may be comparable via adjusted factors. • Comparison of results requires differentiation of measures. Abstract Schizotypy is a personality-framework currently considered a comprehensive and useful construct in schizophrenia research and becoming ever more accepted within psychiatry. Thus, it is crucial to obtain a unifying and generally accepted means of its measuring. The three most commonly used psychometric schizotypy inventories, the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales, Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire and Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences were, however, built upon different theoretical schizotypy models, wherefore comparing results from studies that have used different inventories is difficult and sometimes questionable. Therefore, an analysis of all three inventories was conducted within the same sample of 327 healthy participants to illustrate the similarities and differences in factor structures. Results showed that findings are likely dependent on the used assessment instrument. A following item-level factor analysis was conducted to investigate the shared structure of all three inventories, in order to illustrate a framework interpretable as “common ground” between measures. This adjusted four-factor structure may be used to better aid comparisons between schizotypy-studies having used different inventories. At least, our findings illustrate the necessity of viewing individual results before the background of the theoretical framework of the respective measurement tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When testing risk for psychosis, we regularly rely on self-report questionnaires. Yet, the more that people know about this condition, the more they might respond defensively, in particular with regard to the more salient positive symptom dimension. In two studies, we investigated whether framing provided by questionnaire instructions might modulate responses on self-reported positive and negative schizotypy. The O-LIFE (UK study) or SPQ (New Zealand study) questionnaire was framed in either a “psychiatric”, “creativity”, or “personality” (NZ only) context. We tested psychology students (without taught knowledge about psychosis) and medical students (with taught knowledge about psychosis; UK only). We observed framing effects in psychology students in both studies: positive schizotypy scores were lower after the psychiatric compared to the creativity instruction. However, schizotypy scores did not differ between the creativity and personality framing conditions, suggesting that the low scores with psychiatric framing reflect defensive responding. The same framing effect was also observed in medical students, despite their lower positive schizotypy scores overall. Negative schizotypy scores were not affected by framing in either study. These results highlight the need to reduce response biases when studying schizotypy, because these might blur schizotypy-behaviour relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism and schizophrenia spectrum research is typically based on coarse diagnostic classification, which overlooks individual variation within clinical groups. This method limits the identification of underlying cognitive, genetic and neural correlates of specific symptom dimensions. This study, therefore, aimed to identify homogenous subclinical subgroups of specific autistic and schizotypal traits dimensions, that may be utilised to establish more effective diagnostic and treatment practices. Latent profile analysis of subscale scores derived from an autism-schizotypy questionnaire, completed by 1678 subclinical adults aged 18–40 years (1250 females), identified a local optimum of eight population clusters: High, Moderate and Low Psychosocial Difficulties; High, Moderate and Low Autism-Schizotypy; High Psychosis-Proneness ; and Moderate Schizotypy . These subgroups represent the convergent and discriminant dimensions of autism and schizotypy in the subclinical population, and highlight the importance of examining subgroups of specific symptom characteristics across these spectra in order to identify the underlying genetic and neural correlates that can be utilised to advance diagnostic and treatment practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chapman psychosis-proneness scales—also known as Wisconsin schizotypy scales (WSS)—are among the most used tools to measure schizotypy. The factor structure of the short-form WSS was investigated in a mixed sample of patients with chronic mental disorders and of healthy subjects from the general population. One hundred patients with a chronic mental disorder were enrolled over a 6-month period. For each patient, two controls of same sex and similar age (±5 years) were enrolled; 131 accepted to take part in the study. The unidimensional, the correlated four-factor, the second-order two-factor models, and the bifactor model with two or four orthogonally independent factors of the short-form WSS were tested with confirmatory factor analysis. Good reliability of the short-form WSS was confirmed, as its capacity of differentiating people with and without schizotypy. The bifactor models were superior to other models. However, in both bifactor models the explained common variance (ECV) attributable to the general factor and the percentage of uncontaminated correlations (PUC) were too low to use a general summary score as a measure of a single latent schizotypy variable. Symptoms scores derived from the short-form WSS can be better appreciated within a multidimensional model of schizotypy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with schizophrenia show performance deficits on tasks requiring empathy-related social cognition. The extent to which empathy impairments are observed in psychometric schizotypy is unclear. We compared accuracy and reaction time in three groups of individuals characterized by positive schizotypy ( n  = 79), negative schizotypy ( n  = 123), or low schizotypy group ( n  = 137). On a social cognition task that provided context, namely, the Emotion Perspective Taking Task, the positive schizotypes showed poorer performance than the negative schizotypy and control groups. These results suggest that some schizotypes differ in their ability to make use of context (e.g., social cues from the environment) to affect their social cognitive performance. However, on the Affective Responsiveness Task, in which no context was given, both groups of psychometric schizotypes displayed lower performance than the controls. These findings highlight the importance of assessing multiple groups of schizotypes as well as the value of including several social cognition tasks in order to reveal relative performance deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most widely used measures of psychosis-related symptoms and characteristics is the 74-item Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Using multidimensional Item Response Theory (bifactor 2-parameter model), we calibrated SPQ items in a sample of 375 youths aged 9–24 years and constructed a fully functional computerized adaptive form of the SPQ on an open-source platform for public use. To assess validity, we used the above parameters to simulate CAT sessions in a separate validation sample ( N = 100) using three test-length-based stopping rules: 8 items, 16 items, and 32 items. Those scores were then compared to full-form and SPQ-Brief scores on their abilities to predict psychosis or clinical risk status. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves indicated mediocre predictive ability, but did not differ among any of the forms, even when only eight adaptive items were administered. The Youden index for the 16-item adaptive version was higher than that for the 22-item SPQ-Brief. Classification accuracy for the full SPQ was 73% compared to 66% for the both the SPQ-Brief and adaptive versions (average of three stopping rules). The SPQ-CAT shows promise as a much shorter but valid assessment of schizotypy which can save time with minimal loss of information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress sensitization is a candidate final common pathway for the development of schizophrenia. In other psychopathologies, resilience attenuates the stressor-outcome relationships. Therefore, we sought to determine whether resilience moderates the association between stress sensitivity and schizophrenia liability. Undergraduates ( n = 230) self-reported cognitive-perceptual, interpersonal, and disorganisation attributes of schizophrenia liability as well as ratings of sensitivity to stress, resilience, and dispositional coping behaviour. Bivariate analyses showed components of schizophrenia liability were significantly predicted by greater stress sensitivity, poor resilience and adaptive coping, and greater maladaptive coping behaviour. However, regression modelling suggested that cognitive-perceptual attributes were uniquely predicted by stress sensitivity in models that include resilience. In contrast, interpersonal attributes had a weaker relationship with stress sensitivity and were strongly predicted by poor resilience. In general, resilience did not moderate the relationship of stress sensitivity with schizophrenia liability. Unexpectedly, some specific attributes of resilience (personal strength, structured style) potentiated the relationship of stress sensitivity with schizophrenia liability. We conclude that the relationships of stress sensitivity, resilience, and coping with attributes of schizophrenia liability are not uniform and speculate that the pattern of associations may reflect the different influences of chronic stress exposures and neurocognitive functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief (SPQ-B) is a commonly-used tool for measuring schizotypal personality traits and due to its wide application, its cross-cultural validity is of interest. Previous studies suggest that the SPQ-B either has a three- or four-factor structure, but the majority of studies have been conducted in Western contexts and little is known about the psychometric properties of the scale in other populations. In this study factorial invariance testing across three cultural contexts–Australia, China and Chile was conducted. In total, 729 young adults (Mean age = 23.99 years, SD = 9.87 years) participated. Invariance testing did not support the four-factor model across three countries. Confirmatory Factor Analyses revealed that neither the four- nor three-factor model had strong fit in any of the settings. However, in comparison with other competing models, the four-factor model showed the best for the Australian sample, while the three-factor model was the most reasonable for both Chinese and Chilean samples. The reliability of the SPQ-B scores, estimated with Omega, ranged from 0.86 to 0.91. These findings suggest that the SPQ-B factors are not consistent across different cultural groups. We suggest that these differences could be attributed to potential confounding cultural and translation issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Schizotypy has been proposed to be the expression of genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia. The available literature shows cognitive similarities between schizotypy and schizophrenia, with mildly impaired performance being associated with schizotypy. This study aims to determine the relationship between schizotypy and cognitive performance in siblings of patients with psychosis. Methods Schizotypal features and cognitive performance on a neuropsychological battery were compared between 48 siblings of patients with psychosis and 44 healthy controls. The relationships between schizotypy and cognitive performance were analysed by controlling the condition of being a sibling. Results Siblings showed poorer performance on vigilance/sustained attention ( M = 37.6; SD = 7.1) and selective attention/interference control/working memory ( M = 23.28; SD = 2.7) tasks. The variance in vigilance/sustained attention performance was explained, at 30%, by the interpersonal factor of schizotypy on the suspiciousness dimension and the condition of being a sibling. Conclusions Interpersonal features of schizotypy in siblings of patients with psychosis are associated with deficits in vigilance/sustained attention performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature and severity of semantic memory (SM) impairments in schizophrenia has been related to symptoms, mainly formal thought disorder (FTD), and other clinical factors like length of illness. Symptom-related studies in schizophrenia are often confounded by clinical factors, for example medication and hospitalisations. We completed a schizotypy analogue study to examine the relationship between SM processing and FTD using an analogue schizotypy score referred to as cognitive disorganisation. Sixty individuals without a history of mental illness ( M =22.92, SD =2.70) completed a schizotypy questionnaire and three semantic tasks – naming pictures, category fluency and semantic priming. Only decreasing fluency was associated with increasing cognitive disorganisation scores ( p =0.029). In line with the prevailing dyssemantic theories, the results highlight that cognitive disorganisation is associated with some difficulties in SM processes, though not all. The observed differential relationships of SM processes to disorganised schizotypy are discussed in relation to previous work, and in terms of potential developmental trajectories for SM impairment in schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with schizophrenia have deficits in retrieving the source of memory information. Research has focused on two types of judgements: reality monitoring (discriminating internally-generated stimuli from external information) and internal source monitoring (distinguishing two different internal sources). The aim of the current study was to assess the relation between schizotypy and both types of source memory in healthy volunteers. One hundred and two participants completed two source memory tasks: one involved the completion of well-known word pairs (e.g. Fish and? ) and the other was an action based task (e.g. nod your head). At test participants needed to indicate whether the act had been performed or imagined by themselves, performed by the experimenter, or was new. The positive dimension of schizotypy was positively correlated with errors in internal source monitoring i.e. confusing participant performed and imagined acts. Furthermore, the same dimension of schizotypy was also positively associated with reality monitoring errors i.e. confusing participant performed/imagined with experimenter performed items. However, these relationships were not found in the word pair task. Our findings suggest that there might be overlap in the processes required to retrieve source information from memory, particularly for actions, and the occurrence of unusual experiences in healthy volunteers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this commentary, the author traces theoretical contributions that fueled her interest in the role of social/interpersonal striving, relating, and enjoyment in terms of schizophrenia. Social anhedonia is discussed in the context of schizophrenia. The author reviews selective empirical evidence indicating that social anhedonia has a unique role in terms of risk for schizophrenia as well as schizophrenia outcome. Other risk indicators for adult schizophrenia-spectrum outcomes are briefly considered. The author discusses the measurement of social anhedonia across the lifespan and transdiagnostically. Finally, this commentary offers a critique of current strategies for risk calculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anhedonia is a core feature of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia and is less responsive to antipsychotic medication. Little is known whether anhedonia could be alleviated by cognitive training. The present study aimed to examine whether hedonic deficits observed in individuals with high social anhedonia could be reduced by working memory (WM) training. Thirty-four individuals with high social anhedonia were randomly assigned to either a WM training group or a control group. The WM training group received 20 sessions of dual n-back task training for four weeks. The affective incentive delay task was administered in all participants before the training and one month later. The results showed that individuals who received the WM training showed significant improvement in WM performance ( F (19, 304)=55.80, p <0.001) and they also showed significant improvement in approach sensitivity to rewards ( p =0.004). These preliminary findings suggest that hedonic processing could be improved through WM training in individuals with high social anhedonia. These results may have important implications for the development of non-pharmacological interventions to alleviate anhedonia in patients with schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the last years have seen an increasing interest in schizotypy and its pathogenesis, there exist only a handful of studies examining the possible interaction between season of birth (SOB) and schizotypic personality structure. Available research used differing screening instruments, rendering comparisons between studies difficult, and sample sizes in adult populations may have been too small to detect a mild effect. The current study examined the association between SOB and psychometric schizotypy in the so far single-largest sample from the adult general population ( N =8114), balanced for men and women, and utilizing a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of schizotypy. Using the 12 most informative items of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire Brief, we obtained evidence of a small, but significant, effect of late winter and early spring births (February/March) on psychometric schizotypy. The effect was not constrained to women, but affected men and women alike. The observed association between SOB and schizotypy appears compatible with seasonal variations of temperature and influenza prevalence, and with recent evidence on seasonal variability in the activity of the human immune system. Our findings lend support to the continuum hypothesis of schizotypy and schizophrenia, for which SOB effects have been previously established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People high in schizotypy, a risk factor for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, can have negative symptoms, including diminished experience of motivation/pleasure (MAP) and emotional expressivity (EXP). Additionally, people high in schizotypy often report elevated depressive symptoms, which are also associated with diminished MAP and EXP. In this study, we examined whether negative symptoms were related to schizotypy above and beyond the presence of depressive symptoms. Thirty-one people high in schizotypy and 24 people low in schizotypy were administered the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms (CAINS), an interview-based measure of MAP and EXP negative symptoms and completed a self-report measure of cognitive and somatic-affective depressive symptoms. People high in schizotypy had more MAP negative symptoms than people low in schizotypy, but we found no group differences in EXP negative symptoms. Importantly, the relationship between MAP negative symptoms and schizotypy was fully mediated by cognitive depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that depressive symptoms, specifically cognitive depressive symptoms, may be a pathway for motivation and pleasure impairment, in people at elevated risk for developing schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative treatment from others is related to elevated levels of trait schizotypy, signifying increased risk for psychosis, but associations with helpful behaviour have been much less studied. Using the Stereotype Content Model we tested the hypothesis that passive and active forms of help would be associated with increased and decreased expression of schizotypy, respectively. Schizotypal traits were assessed in students (N=631) using positive (Perceptual Aberration) and negative (Social Anhedonia) subscales of the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales-Brief. Experiences of active (intentional) and passive (less deliberative) harm and help were assessed with the Behaviour from Intergroup Affect and Stereotypes Treatment Scale. As predicted, the results showed that experiences of passive help from others were associated with a 2–3 fold increase in scores on schizotypy scales, whilst reports of active help tended to be associated with a decrease in scores on these scales. Results also showed that increased reports of active and passive harm were associated with elevated scores on negative and positive schizotypy subscales, consistent with prior research. These findings, bridging research on social stereotyping and schizotypal personality, challenge the assumption that helpful behaviour from others is always beneficial for individuals with schizotypal traits who are at increased risk for psychosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results of recent analyses of the Chapman Psychosis Proneness Scales (CPPS) have been inconsistent with regard to their factor structure. This inconsistency has involved whether the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale ( SocAnh ) reflects only the negative or both the negative and positive dimensions of schizotypy, along with the degree of correlation between these two dimensions. In the present study, confirmatory factor analysis was used to compare models created by Chan et al. and Kwapil et al.; a third model was constructed based on adjustments to these prior models and consideration of the schizotypy construct. Following Kwapil et al., our model allowed for bi-loading of SocAnh scale, but eliminated the correlation between positive and negative factors. Although fitness for each of the previously offered models was adequate, RMSEA and chi-square indicators suggested ideal fit for the model proposed by Kwapil and our new model, which redirects variance thought to be shared among the positive and negative dimensions to its specific source, SocAnh . The implications of these competing models with regard to our conceptualization of schizotypy are addressed. It is suggested that the cross loading of SocAnh reflects the notion of social anhedonia as the core of schizotypic personality organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The schizotypal personality questionnaire (SPQ) is used to characterize schizotypy, a complex construct helpful for the investigation of schizophrenia-related psychopathology and putative endophenotypes. The SPQ factor structure at item level has been rarely replicated and no study had tested a bifactor model of the SPQ so far. The unidimensional, the correlated, the second-order and the bifactor models of the SPQ were tested to evaluate whether the items converge into a major single factor defining the schizotypy-proneness of the participants, to be used for grouping purpose. Parallel principal component analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to determine the optimal number of factors and components in a cross-sectional, survey design involving 649 college students (males: 47%). The first-order, nine-subscale model was confirmed by CFA in the whole sample. The best evidence from parallel PCA in the training set was in favor of a two-factor model; the bifactor implementation of this model showed good fit in the subsequent CFA. Two main dimensions of positive and negative symptoms underlie schizotypy in non-clinical samples, entailing specific risk of psychosis. On a measurement level, the study provided support for the use of the total scores of the SPQ to characterize schizotypy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developmental theories highlight the salience of attachment theory in explaining vulnerability towards psychosis. At the same time there is increasing recognition that psychosis is associated with childhood trauma variables. This study explored the interaction between attachment and several trauma variables in relation to schizotypy levels in a non-clinical sample. 283 non-clinical participants completed online measures of schizotypy, attachment, childhood abuse and neglect. When five types of abuse/neglect were entered into a linear regression analysis emotional abuse was the sole independent predictor of schizotypy. Age, attachment anxiety and avoidance were independent predictors after the effects of emotional abuse were controlled for. The overall model was significant, explaining 34% of the variation in schizotypy. Moderation analysis indicated that the effect of emotional abuse was not conditional upon attachment. Parallel mediation analysis indicated small but significant indirect effects of emotional abuse on schizotypy through attachment avoidance (13%) and attachment anxiety (8%). We conclude that emotional abuse contributes to vulnerability towards psychosis both directly and indirectly through attachment insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative symptoms are a prominent feature of schizophrenia that are intimately linked to poor outcomes characterizing the illness. One mechanistic model suggests that these symptoms are produced and maintained, at least in part, through maladaptive attitudes. Beyond mechanisms, it remains phenomenologically unclear if these symptoms are particularly distressing. In the present study we examined whether subclinical negative symptoms evaluated in a non-clinical sample of young adults ( N =370) were distressful or bothersome to participants and, further, whether these symptoms were associated with dysfunctional attitudes. We found that greater severity of subclinical negative symptoms such as amotivation and anhedonia were associated with higher ratings of distress specifically attributable to these symptoms. This relationship held even after controlling for severity of depressive symptoms. Moreover, greater negative symptom burden was associated with greater endorsement of defeatist performance beliefs. Negative symptoms expressed in the general population were found to be particularly distressing. Maladaptive cognitive schemas are implicated in the expression of these symptoms, as well as the amount of distress these symptoms instil. A greater understanding of the mechanisms underlying negative symptoms, including both neurobiological and cognitive, is needed in order to effectively develop treatment strategies for these disabling symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metacognitive abnormalities have been implicated in the experience of psychotic symptoms; however, the process through which this occurs remains unclear. The aim of this study was to clarify the association of self-reported schizotypy with metacognitive beliefs and neural activity related to higher-order cognition. Event-related potentials (ERPs) including the error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) were recorded during a Flanker task in 20 controls and 22 individuals with high self-reported schizotypy on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief Revised (SPQ-BR). Participants continuously evaluated their task performance and completed the Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30). The high schizotypy group demonstrated higher scores on all subscales of the MCQ-30. In contrast, task performance, accuracy of self-performance evaluation, and amplitudes of the ERN and Pe did not differ between groups. The MCQ-30 factors that measure cognitive confidence and positive beliefs about worry significantly predicted SPQ-BR total score, whereas ERPs did not. High self-reported schizotypy appears to be more associated with dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs than physiological abnormalities in brain areas related to metacognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current experiment examined emotional processing difficulties related to self referential material in high schizotypal individuals employing the mnemic neglect paradigm. Participants read about behaviors, in reference to themselves, that were either central or peripheral, and positive or negative, before recalling those behaviors. Levels of self reported unusual experiences and cognitive disorganization were associated with reduced recall of central positive behaviors, and increased recall of central negative behaviors. These findings are discussed in terms of emotional processing of stimuli in schizotypy, and suggest that high schizotypal individuals are insensitive to emotional self referential material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted three investigations to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of the Anticipatory and Consummatory Interpersonal Pleasure Scale (ACIPS; Gooding and Pflum, Psychiatry Research , 2014). In Study One, we used Mechanical Turk to individually administer the ACIPS to a diverse group of community adults aged 25–69. Reports of greater social/interpersonal pleasure was associated with greater sense of interpersonal connectedness with others, higher need to belong, and less likelihood of reporting anxiety during social interactions. In Studies Two and Three, participants were tested in group settings. Studies with undergraduate participants indicated that ACIPS scores are associated with measures of prosocial interactions and sociability as well as measures of anhedonia. Despite differences in testing conditions (i.e., online vs. paper administration) and heterogeneity in the samples in terms of educational level, geographical location, and age, the ACIPS demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity. Taken together, these studies add to the increasing body of evidence for the construct validity of the ACIPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore individual capacity for self-integration, susceptibility to the Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) and the role of temperament factors in the emergence of body schema and body image dissociation. The RHI factors, proprioceptive drift, body ownership and body disownership were assessed in 48 university students. Personality and psychiatric vulnerability were measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) and the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R). Our study pointed to the fact that the extent of behaviourally defined proprioceptive drift was associated with temperament factors, especially with Novelty Seeking and Harm Avoidance. Further, the ownership was associated with Symptom Checklist factors, especially with elevated Interpersonal Sensitivity and vulnerability to Schizotypy and Paranoid Ideation and elevated disownership score was found in the case of elevated Schizotypy, including a depersonalisation feeling when the RHI was induced. The RHI may be considered as a conflicting situation, in which a way to cope with incongruent multimodal, visual, haptic and proprioceptive stimulation provides an opportunity to test body integration and embodiment processes in healthy participants and patients without disadvantageous outcomes. The results support and replenish the two opposite processing models of the RHI with a third, temperament-based procedural mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speed of processing is impaired in schizophrenia but intact in schizotypal college students. In view of this disparity, we investigated whether deficient processing speed was associated with schizotypy in adults from the general community. Data were drawn from the Western Australian Family Study of Schizophrenia, including 216 (non-clinical) adults from the general community, and a reference group with schizophrenia spectrum disorder ( N =224). Schizotypal traits were assessed with the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire, whilst processing speed was assessed with a digit-symbol coding task. Community controls had significantly higher digit symbol coding scores than patients with psychosis. However, both correlational and hierarchical regression analysis indicated a lack of association between Cognitive-perceptual, Interpersonal or Disorganized schizotypy traits and digit symbol coding performance. Relative to Australian norms there was also no evidence of a non-linear decline in coding in high schizotypes in young, mature or senior age groups. The results show that speed of information processing is unimpaired in high schizotypes from the general community. The possibility that intact processing speed in at-risk groups confers protection to psychosis onset is discussed. Assessing the trajectory of processing speed throughout development may provide a useful clinical screening tool to distinguish those at heightened risk of developing psychosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have demonstrated that motor control deficits are characteristic of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and those at-risk for the development of the disorder. Recent advances in the quantification of motor dysfunction have confirmed this, but these methods fail to consider an important aspect of subject performance: the qualitative nature of their psychomotor dyscontrol. We report on a novel technique used to quantify the qualitative nature of psychomotor performance and its relation to schizotypy. Control ( n =35) and schizotypic subjects ( n =47) completed a line-drawing task that yields metrics for psychomotor control and predominant frequency. Schizotypes evidenced greater psychomotor dyscontrol and lower predominant frequencies than controls. These results are interpreted as evidence of reduced visual-motor integration, self-monitoring capacity, or adherence to basic motor principles in schizotypes. The potential use of these metrics as putative endophenotypes for the liability for schizophrenia and the implications of these findings for the relationship between schizophrenia and schizotypy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to examine the factor structure and the temporal stability of the Chapman psychosis-proneness scales in a representative sample of nonclinical Chinese young adults. The four psychosis-proneness scales evaluated were the Perceptual Aberration (PAS), Magical Ideation (MIS), revised Social Anhedonia (RSAS), and revised Physical Anhedonia (RPAS) scales. The sample consisted of 1724 young adults with a mean age of 18.8 years (S.D.=0.84). The results of the confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the best fitting model was a two-factor model with positive schizotypy (PER and MIS) scales and negative schizotypy (RSAS and RPAS) scales. The data add to the growing literature indicating that the measurement of schizotypal traits is consistent across cultures. In addition, the results support the measurement invariance of the Chapman psychosis-proneness scales across time, i.e., there was ample evidence of test–retest reliability over a test interval of 6 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patterns of problematic volitional control in schizotypal personality disorder pertaining to goal process representation (GPR), approach and avoidance temperament, and aberrant salience have not been widely investigated in emerging adults. The present study aimed to provide preliminary evidence for the utility of examining these three motivational constructs as predictors of high versus low levels of psychometrically-defined schizotypy in a non-clinic sample. When college students with high levels of self-reported schizotypy ( n= 88) were compared to those with low levels ( n =87) by means of logistic regression, aberrant salience, avoidant temperament, and the self-criticism component of GPR together accounted for 51% of the variance in schizotypy group assignment. Higher score on these three motivational dimensions reflected a proclivity toward higher levels of schizotypy. The current findings justify the continued exploration of goal-related constructs as useful motivational elements in psychopathology research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certain Personality Disorders (PDs) have been found to be present in the prodromal phase of schizophrenia at a higher rate than other personality disorders. Although schizotypal, paranoid, and schizoid PDs are traditionally viewed as spectra for schizophrenia, research suggests that avoidant PD should be included in this group (e.g., Fogelson et al., 2007 ). The present study examines whether a sample of psychometrically identified schizotypes (SZT) have higher incidence of schizophrenia-spectrum PDs, as well as more symptoms of these PDs, in general, than does a matched comparison (MC) sample. Eighty-five SZT and 78 MC participants were administered the Personality Disorder Interview for DSM-IV (PDI-IV) to assess PD symptoms and diagnoses. Results indicate that the SZT group evidenced significantly more symptoms of avoidant, schizoid, paranoid, and schizotypal PDs than did the MC group. Further, there were significant differences in the incidence of these PDs between the groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Season of birth (SOB) has been shown to modify the risk of several health outcomes, including a number of neuropsychiatric disorders. Empirical evidence indicates that subclinical forms of psychosis in the general population share some risk factors with categorical diagnoses of psychosis. Hence, by systematically reviewing and meta-analyzing new and existing data, the current work aimed to determine whether there is evidence of an association between winter SOB and subclinical psychosis in the general population. Our meta-analytic results do not indicate an association between winter SOB and schizotypy in adult populations, although they indicate winter SOB may be a risk factor for psychotic experiences or symptoms in children around 12–15 years (OR=1.12, 95%CI:1.03–1.21). In the whole new dataset for adults ( n =481, mean age=22.8 years) no association was detected in either an unadjusted model or adjusting for gender and age. Overall, our results indicate that the association between winter SOB and increased subclinical psychosis may hold in children, but does not in the broad general adult population. Nevertheless, the epidemiological and clinicopathological significance of winter SOB as a risk factor for subclinical psychosis would probably be slight due to the small effect sizes indicated by the reports available to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sparse evidence of a co-aggregation of the risk of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder provides support for a shared but nonspecific genetic etiology of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Temperaments are conceptualized as trait sub-syndromic conditions of major pathologies. This study set out to test the hypothesis of a continuum between schizotypy and affective temperaments versus the alternative hypothesis of their independence based on a cross-sectional, survey design involving 649 (males: 47%) college students. The short 39-item TEMPS-A and the SPQ were used as measures of the affective temperaments and of schizotypy, respectively. Confirmatory factor analyses were applied to a unidimensional model, to a standard correlate traits model, to second-order representations of a common latent structure, and to a bifactor model. Confirmatory bifactor modeling provided evidence against a complete independence of the dimensions subsumed by the affective and the schizotypal traits. The best solution distinguished between two sub-domains grouping positive symptoms and negative symptoms as measured by the SPQ subscales, and a sub-domain related to the affective temperaments as measured by the TEMPS-A. Limitations due to the use of subscales from two different tools should be taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this study was to examine the cross-cultural invariance of the factor structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) ( Raine, 1991 ) in two large samples of Spanish and American young adults. The final sample was made up of 2313 college students (508 men, 22%). Their mean age was 20.5 years (S.D.=3.2). The results indicated that the Stefanis et al. (2004) four-factor model yielded the best goodness-of-fit indices compared to alternative models. Moreover, the results support configural, metric, and partial measurement invariance of the covariances of the SPQ across the two samples. The finding of measurement equivalence across cultures provides essential evidence of construct validity for the schizotypy dimensions and of the cross-cultural validity of SPQ scores. The finding of comparable dimensional structures in cross-cultural samples lends further support to the continuum model of schizotypy and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Future studies should continue to examine the validity of scores on the SPQ and other schizotypy measures and their variation or consistency across cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence suggests that divergent thinking (DT), a measure of creativity, is associated with positive schizotypy and cannabis use. Given the high rates of cannabis use among those with schizotypy, it is unclear if the relation of DT to schizotypy is due to co-occurring cannabis use. In this study, we examined the relations between DT, schizotypy, and cannabis use among positive schizotypy ( n =66), negative schizotypy ( n =22), and non-schizotypy ( n =60) groups. Results revealed that DT was greater in the positive schizotypy group, on the order of small to medium effects, compared to negative and non-schizotypy groups. Cannabis use and DT were associated in the non-schizotypy group, but not in the positive or negative schizotypy groups. Across all groups, positive schizotypy significantly predicted DT; however, cannabis use was not a significant predictor of DT. In line with previous findings, cannabis use and DT were only related in individuals low in creativity. This suggests that a ceiling effect may be present, with only cannabis users who are low in creativity receiving any increase in DT. Future research should aim to clarify the DT–cannabis relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possibility of altered time-perception in high schizotypy scorers, as postulated through previous differences shown in performance between high and low scorers in schizotypy on schedules of reinforcement with temporal elements, was examined using a series of retrospective timing tasks. Three stimuli ratio manipulations were made across two experiments, and, using an adjusted version of the bisection-point method for data analysis, results showed that high scorers on the Unusual Experiences subscale of the O-LIFE(B) estimated the mid point of the stimulus range to be at a significantly longer interval than low scorers. This was true when the ratios between “short” and “long” standard stimuli were 4:1 (Experiment 1), 3:1 and 2:1 (Experiment 2). These findings are consistent with the notion of altered time-perception for high schizotypals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been asserted that schizotypy has a negative relationship with subjective well-being. By employing a multidimensional measure of spiritual well being with 400 British College students we report a more complex relationship. The Multidimensional Inventory for Religious/Spiritual Well-Being and Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief Version were used and analysis made use of Canonical Correlational Analysis. Results suggested that two distinct relationships emerged between schizotypy and spirituality. First, a positive association between cognitive/perceptual features of schizotypy and spiritual connectedness emerged. Second a more global negative relationship between feelings of spiritual isolation and despair was found for all aspects of schizotypy. These findings challenge the previous literature based on one-dimensional subjective well being measures which have found only a negative relationship. However, the positive association between connectedness and cognitive-perceptual aspects of schizotypy raises import questions about the possible benefit of certain types of schizotypal experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]