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Schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology appears best understood as being expressed across a continuum of clinical and subclinical symptoms and impairment referred to as schizotypy. This brief report describes a comprehensive replication study examining the associations of positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy with interview ratings of impairment, psychopathology, and personality pathology in a sample of 161 young adults. Consistent with past studies, positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy had distinct and hypothesized associations with symptoms and impairment. Positive schizotypy was associated with prodromal symptoms and schizotypal, paranoid, and borderline personality traits. Negative schizotypy was associated with impaired functioning, negative symptoms, and schizoid, schizotypal, and paranoid traits, as well as any broad personality disorder diagnosis; it was also associated with never having dated. Disorganized schizotypy was associated with impaired functioning, disorganized schizotypic experiences, attentional deficits, and schizotypal, paranoid, borderline, and avoidant personality traits, as well as depression. Overall, we successfully replicated findings from five previous schizotypy interview studies, supporting the construct validity of the multidimensional model of schizotypy and the Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) first appeared in the American Psychiatric Association diagnostic nosology in 1980, although its roots stretch back more than 100 years under labels such as borderline, ambulatory, and latent schizophrenia. SPD is unique in that it is conceptualized both as stable personality pathology and also as a milder manifestation of schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology. The categorical operationalization of SPD has remained largely unchanged for the last 40 years, with emphasis on interpersonal deficits, cognitive and perceptual distortions, and odd and eccentric behaviors. The alternative model for personality disorders (AMPD) retained many of the aspects of SPD while offering a hybrid model that includes both disturbances in personality functioning and specific pathological personality traits. The present review examined the empirical literature on the success of the AMPD model in capturing SPD. Although research specifically examining AMPD SPD is limited, there is converging evidence that the six trait facets proposed for the AMPD SPD provide good coverage of SPD and correspond closely to criterion counts from the categorical SPD diagnosis. Furthermore, most studies find that the inclusion of additional facets not proposed for SPD do not account for appreciable variance. However, SPD offers a rather heterogeneous construct, and future studies should consider whether specifying positive, negative, and disorganized traits within the disorder might improve the clarity of the diagnosis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The present study examined the associations of positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy dimensions assessed by the Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale with 5 interview-rated personality disorder diagnoses and traits in 151 young adults. As hypothesized, all 3 schizotypy dimensions were associated with impaired functioning. Positive schizotypy was associated with schizotypal and borderline personality traits; negative schizotypy was associated with schizotypal, schizoid, paranoid, and avoidant personality traits; and disorganized schizotypy was associated with paranoid, borderline, and avoidant personality disorder traits. Negative schizotypy predicted broad diagnoses of Cluster A personality disorders. Both negative and disorganized schizotypy predicted the broad diagnosis of any of the 5 personality disorders. The study further examined the association of the schizotypy dimensions with the individual personality disorder criteria to better understand the overall associations. Given the common origins and high comorbidity, we examined whether the schizotypy dimensions explained the association of borderline and schizotypal personality disorder traits. Positive and disorganized schizotypy fully mediated the association between borderline and schizotypal traits. In summary, the study replicated and extended previous findings that the schizotypy dimensions are uniquely associated with personality disorders and traits, as well as impaired functioning, in young adults. The study also provided additional support for the construct validity of the Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale and for the use of psychometric assessment of schizotypy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The underlying vulnerability for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders is expressed across a continuum of clinical and subclinical symptoms and impairment known as schizotypy. Schizotypy is a multidimensional construct with positive, negative, and disorganized dimensions. Models of normal personality provide useful frameworks for examining the multidimensional structure of schizotypy. However, the relationship of schizotypy with openness to experience has been largely limited to studies using the five-factor model of personality, which may not adequately capture maladaptive expressions of openness. Therefore, this study examined the relationship of positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy with multiple measures of openness that capture adaptive and maladaptive aspects of the construct. MTurk and university participants ( n = 1,281) completed the Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale and five measures of openness. As hypothesized, positive schizotypy was generally associated with elevated openness, especially measures tapping oddness and eccentricity, whereas negative schizotypy was inversely associated with openness, especially measures assessing openness to feelings. Disorganized schizotypy was generally unassociated with openness. Principal components analysis of 15 openness facets revealed four factors: Fantasy/Feelings, Ideas, Eccentricity, and Nontraditionalism, and provided more nuanced understanding of the associations of schizotypy and openness. Positive schizotypy was associated with each factor (albeit inversely with Nontraditionalism), negative schizotypy was inversely associated with Fantasy/Feelings but positively associated with Eccentricity, and disorganized schizotypy was only associated with Eccentricity. These results support the construct validity of the Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale and highlight that the association of schizotypy and openness is best understood by considering the multidimensionality of both constructs and evaluating adaptive and maladaptive openness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The present study provided the first examination of the construct validity of the Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale (MSS) and the first assessment of its psychometric properties outside of its derivation samples. The MSS contains 77 items that assess positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy. A large multisite sample of 1,430 participants completed the MSS and measures of schizotypal personality traits and the five-factor model of personality. The MSS subscales had good-to-excellent internal consistency reliability that showed no shrinkage relative to the MSS derivation samples. The psychometric properties and intercorrelations of the MSS subscales were closely consistent with the derivation findings. The MSS Positive Schizotypy subscale had a strong association with cognitive-perceptual schizotypal traits (large effect), positive associations with personality traits of neuroticism and openness to experience, and negative associations with agreeableness. The MSS Negative Schizotypy subscale had a strong association with interpersonal schizotypal traits (medium effect) and negative associations with personality traits of extraversion, openness, and agreeableness. The MSS Disorganized Schizotypy subscale had a strong association with disorganized schizotypal traits (medium effect), a positive association with neuroticism, and a negative association with conscientiousness. The findings were consistent with the a priori predictions and support the construct validity of the MSS. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).)

The present study examined the expression of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5) schizotypal, schizoid, and paranoid personality disorder (PD) traits in daily life using experience sampling methodology in 206 nonclinically ascertained Spanish young adults oversampled for risk for schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology. This study examined the overlap and differentiation of pathological personality traits in daily life settings, according to both diagnostic and multidimensional models. Daily life outcomes differentiated among schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. The assignment of Cluster A personality traits to positive, negative, paranoid, and disorganized dimensions provided an alternative to the traditional PD diagnoses. Positive, disorganized, and paranoid schizotypy were associated with elevated stress reactivity, whereas negative schizotypy was associated with diminished reactivity in daily life. The current diagnostic model is limited by the considerable overlap among the PD traits. Nonetheless, experience sampling methodology is sensitive enough to detect differences in day-to-day impairment and can be a powerful research tool for the examination of dynamic constructs such as personality pathology. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).)

Schizotypy is a multidimensional construct that captures the expression of schizophrenic symptoms and impairment from subclinical levels to full-blown psychosis. The present study examined the comparability of the factor structure of 2 leading psychometric measures of schizotypy: the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales (WSS) and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Both the SPQ and WSS purportedly capture the multidimensional structure of schizotypy; however, whether they are measuring comparable factors has not been empirically demonstrated. This study provided support for a 2-factor model with positive and negative factors underlying the WSS; however, contrary to previous findings, the best fit for the SPQ was for a 4-factor model using confirmatory factor analysis, and a 2-factor model using exploratory factor analysis. The WSS factors were relatively distinct, whereas those underlying the SPQ showed high overlap. The WSS positive and SPQ cognitive-perceptual factors appeared to tap comparable constructs. However, the WSS negative and SPQ interpersonal factors appeared to tap somewhat different constructs based on their correlation and their patterns of associations with other schizotypy dimensions and the Five-Factor Model-suggesting that the SPQ interpersonal factor may not adequately tap negative or deficit schizotypy. Although the SPQ offers the advantage over the WSS of having a disorganization factor, it is not clear that this SPQ factor is actually distinct from positive schizotypy. Existing measures should be used with caution and new measures based on a priori theories are necessary to further understand the factor structure of schizotypy., ((PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).)