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Empirical research using the Empathic Accuracy Task (EAT) has suggested that schizophrenia patients and people with schizotypal personality disorder exhibit lower empathic accuracy than healthy people. However, empathic accuracy in a subclinical sample with high levels of schizotypy has seldom been studied. Our study aimed to investigate empathy in a subclinical sample using the Chinese version of the EAT and a self‐report empathy measure. Forty participants with high levels of schizotypy (HS participants) and 40 with low levels of schizotypy (LS participants), as measured by the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), were recruited. All participants completed the Chinese version of the EAT and the self‐report Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy. Empathic accuracy (EA) scores and the intra‐individual variability of EA scores were calculated. Independent samples t tests and Pearson correlation analyses were performed to examine group differences in empathy and the relationship between empathy and schizotypy respectively. HS participants exhibited reduced EA for both positive and negative videos, and larger intra‐individual variability of EA for negative videos than LS participants. However, HS and LS participants did not differ in self‐report cognitive empathy. Moreover, the interpersonal dimension of the SPQ was negatively correlated with EAT performance and self‐report cognitive empathy in LS participants. Individuals with HS show poorer performance‐based EA but relatively intact self‐report cognitive empathy. This study provides empirical evidence for the ontogeny of empathy deficits in subclinical populations at risk of developing schizophrenia, supporting early interventions for social cognitive deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between affective disturbances and aberrant salience in the context of childhood trauma, attachment, and mentalization in an analogue study. Methods: Using a cross‐sectional design, an online community sample completed self‐report measures of key variables. Structural equation modelling was used to test childhood trauma's influence on aberrant salience via a set of intermediate risk factors (depression, negative schizotypy, and insecure attachment). These intermediate risk factors were assumed to lead to the proximal risk factors of aberrant salience (i.e., disorganized schizotypy and disorganized attachment) depending on the vulnerability of mentalizing capacity to elevated stress. Results: The sample (N = 1263) was 78% female and aged between 18 and 35 years. The tested models closely fitted the observed data, revealing significant pathways from childhood trauma to aberrant salience via the hypothesized pathways. The direct effect of childhood trauma on aberrant salience was significant. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the pathway to aberrant salience may be characterized by disorganization of self‐state and intersubjectivity as a function of diminishment in mentalizing ability. This may relate to changes in attachment organization and socio‐cognitive capacity, which could constitute possible risk factors signalling development of aberrant salience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can disrupt cognition and consequently behaviour. Traits of ASD and the subclinical manifestation of schizophrenia called schizotypy have been studied in healthy populations with overlap found in trait profiles linking ASD social deficits to negative schizotypy and ASD attention to detail to positive schizotypy. Here, we probed the relationship between subtrait profiles, cognition and behaviour, using a predictive tracking task to measure individuals' eye movements under three gravity conditions. A total of 48 healthy participants tracked an on‐screen projected ball under familiar gravity, inverted upward acceleration (against gravity) and horizontal gravity control conditions while eye movements were recorded and dynamic performance quantified. Participants completed ASD and schizotypy inventories generating highly correlated scores, r = 0.73. All tracked best under the gravity condition, producing anticipatory downward responses from stimulus onset which were delayed under upward inverted gravity. Tracking performance was not associated with overall ASD or schizotypy trait levels. Combining measures using principal components analysis (PCA), we decomposed the inventories into subtraits unveiling interesting patterns. Positive schizotypy was associated with ASD dimensions of rigidity, odd behaviour and face processing, which all linked to anticipatory tracking responses under inverted gravity. In contrast, negative schizotypy was associated with ASD dimensions of social interactions and rigidity and to early stimulus‐driven tracking under gravity. There was also substantial nonspecific overlap between ASD and schizotypy dissociated from tracking. Our work links positive‐odd traits with anticipatory tracking when physics rules are violated and negative‐social traits with exploitation of physics laws of motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Schizotypy reflects the vulnerability to schizophrenia in the general population. Different questionnaires have been developed to measure aspects of schizotypy. Higher schizotypy scores have also been linked with depression, anxiety, and stress sensitivity. Here we examine the associations of schizotypy with symptoms of depression and anxiety in a sample of university students, using two different measures (N = 271). Methods: A series of confirmatory factor analyses was used to examine two distinct and frequently employed measures of schizotypy: the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE), and the Schizotypy Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). We assessed their relationship with each other and their predictive validity for anxiety, depression, and stress sensitivity. Results: Our results indicated the brief 7‐factor SPQ (SPQ‐BR) factor solution for the SPQ and the 15‐item and 3 factor solution for the CAPE (i.e., CAPE‐P15) as best fitting models. Particularly the CAPE dimension of persecutory ideation was a strong predictor of anxiety, depression, and stress sensitivity, whereas the SPQ dimensions of no close friends and social anxiety predicted psychological distress and stress in our student sample. Conclusions: Our findings extend earlier work in general and patient samples and point to the importance of understanding the contribution of particularly positive schizotypy symptoms and different interpersonal aspects to psychological distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current developmental psychopathology models indicate that schizophrenia can be understood as the most extreme expression of a multidimensional continuum of symptoms and impairment referred to as schizotypy. In nondisordered adults, schizotypy predicts risk for developing schizophrenia‐spectrum psychopathology. Schizophrenia is associated with disruptions in detecting subtle differences between objects, which is linked to hippocampal dysfunction. These disruptions have been shown in the Mnemonic Similarity Task (MST) when patients are less likely to reject lures that are similar but not identical to studied objects, and instead mistake them for studied items. This pattern of errors may be a behavioral manifestation of impaired pattern separation, a key episodic memory ability associated with hippocampal integrity and overreliance on pattern completion. We examined whether multidimensional schizotypy is associated with such deficits in nondisordered young adults. Participants (n = 230) were assessed for positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy and completed the MST and a perceptual discrimination task. MST performance showed that a combination of elevated negative and disorganized schizotypy was associated with decreased rejections of similar lures because they were mistakenly identified as studied items. These deficits were not observed in traditional recognition measures within the same task, nor in perceptual discrimination, suggesting that mnemonic discrimination deficits assessed by MST were selective and did not reflect generalized deficits. These findings extend the results obtained in schizophrenia patients and support a multidimensional model of schizophrenia‐spectrum psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental time travel (MTT) is the ability to project oneself to the past or future through mental simulation. Moreover, MTT can involve self‐related or other‐related information. This study aimed to compare MTT in individuals with high levels of schizotypy and that in their counterparts with low levels of schizotypy. Participants with high (n = 37) and low (n = 37) levels of schizotypy completed an MTT task with four conditions [2 (Condition: self vs. other) × 2 (Time orientation: past vs. future)]. They were required to recall past events that had happened to themselves or to a non‐intimate person, and to imagine possible future events that might happen to themselves or to a non‐intimate person, related to cue words. Outcome measures included specificity, vividness, sense of experience, emotional valence, emotional intensity, proportion of first‐person visual perspective in events, and difficulty in event generation. A 2 (Group: high vs. low levels of schizotypy) × 2 (Condition) × 2 (Time orientation) mixed analysis of variance was conducted on each index. Results showed that self‐related MTT was more specific than other‐related MTT in low levels of schizotypy participants but not in high levels of schizotypy participants. Participants with a high level of schizotypy reported fewer specific events, and reported events with lower vividness and positive emotion than did those with a low level of schizotypy. Self‐related MTT showed higher levels of phenomenological characteristics than did other‐related MTT. In conclusion, individuals with a high level of schizotypy have altered MTT, and cannot benefit from the self‐advantage effect on the specificity of MTT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: There is growing recognition of the value of researching anomalous experiences in the general population to aid our understanding of the psychosis continuum. There are key differences in aims, foci and epistemologies of existing measures, with varying utility for specific research designs. This study addresses gaps in the literature by developing a measure of anomalous experiences with utility for longitudinal (time‐sensitive) research, and with particular reliability for people towards the upper (high scoring) end of the continuum. Methods: An online sample was recruited from the general population to provide questionnaire data for two study parts: (A) item selection and (B) psychometric evaluation. For Part A, both classical test theory and item response theory methods were used to select which items to be included from an initial pool of 57, generated from individuals with persistent anomalous experiences. For Part B, psychometric properties of the resulting measure were evaluated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and tests of reliability and validity. Results: Scores were provided by 532 participants, from which a 19‐item scale, the Transpersonal Experiences Questionnaire (TEQ), was developed. The TEQ was found to be a unidimensional scale, with satisfactory internal consistency (0.85), good test–retest reliability and convergent validity. Conclusions: The TEQ can be used as a unidimensional scale to detect anomalous experiences in the general population, with particular reliability for people with higher incidence of these experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search for robust, reliable biomarkers of schizophrenia remains a high priority in psychiatry. Biomarkers are valuable because they can reveal the underlying mechanisms of symptoms and monitor treatment progress and may predict future risk of developing schizophrenia. Despite the existence of various promising biomarkers that relate to symptoms across the schizophrenia spectrum, and despite published recommendations encouraging multivariate metrics, they are rarely investigated simultaneously within the same individuals. In those with schizophrenia, the magnitude of purported biomarkers is complicated by comorbid diagnoses, medications and other treatments. Here, we argue three points. First, we reiterate the importance of assessing multiple biomarkers simultaneously. Second, we argue that investigating biomarkers in those with schizophrenia‐related traits (schizotypy) in the general population can accelerate progress in understanding the mechanisms of schizophrenia. We focus on biomarkers of sensory and working memory in schizophrenia and their smaller effects in individuals with nonclinical schizotypy. Third, we note irregularities across research domains leading to the current situation in which there is a preponderance of data on auditory sensory memory and visual working memory, but markedly less in visual (iconic) memory and auditory working memory, particularly when focusing on schizotypy where data are either scarce or inconsistent. Together, this review highlights opportunities for researchers without access to clinical populations to address gaps in knowledge. We conclude by highlighting the theory that early sensory memory deficits contribute negatively to working memory and vice versa. This presents a mechanistic perspective where biomarkers may interact with one another and impact schizophrenia‐related symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conspiracy theory (CT) beliefs have become an important policy‐relevant research area since the events of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Increasing interest has been directed towards strategies that might reduce people's susceptibility to conspiratorial beliefs. In this study, we examined whether encouraging a stronger orientation towards critical scientific appraisal of conspiratorial accounts could reduce CT acceptance. After completing baseline measures of COVID‐19 related beliefs and analytical and scientific reasoning abilities, a total of 700 adults were randomly allocated to a control or scientific reasoning manipulation. People assigned to the scientific reasoning condition were found to display significantly lower CT belief endorsement post‐intervention as compared to the control group. As well as having implications for the design of future intervention studies, the results of this study encourage a greater focus on specific reasoning skills that may be amenable to a psychoeducation approach, in order to further develop methods to prevent CT beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Childhood disturbances in social, emotional, language, motor and cognitive functioning, and schizotypy have each been implicated as precursors of schizophrenia‐spectrum disorders. We investigated whether relationships between early childhood developmental vulnerabilities and childhood schizotypy are mediated by educational underachievement in middle childhood. Methods: Participants were members of a large Australian (n = 19,216) population cohort followed longitudinally. Path analyses were used to model relationships between developmental vulnerabilities at age ~5 years, educational underachievement from ages ~8 to 10 years and three distinct profiles of schizotypy at age ~11 years (true, introverted and affective schizotypy). Results: Early childhood developmental vulnerabilities on five broad domains (related to physical, emotional, social, cognitive and communication development) were associated with schizotypy profiles in middle childhood. Educational underachievement in middle childhood was associated with all schizotypy profiles, but most strongly with the true schizotypy profile (OR = 3.92, 95% CI = 3.12, 4.91). The relationships between schizotypy profiles and early childhood developmental vulnerabilities in 'language and cognitive skills (school‐based)' and 'communication skills and general knowledge' domains were fully mediated by educational underachievement in middle childhood, and the relationships with early childhood 'physical health and well‐being' and 'emotional maturity' domains were partially mediated. Conclusion: Developmental continuity from early childhood developmental vulnerabilities to schizotypy in middle childhood is mediated by educational underachievement in middle childhood. While some domains of early developmental functioning showed differential relationships with distinct schizotypy profiles, these findings support a developmental pathway to schizotypy in which cognitive vulnerability operates from early childhood through to middle childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) exhibit a constellation of sensory and perceptual impairments, including hyporeactivity to external input. However, individuals with SSD also report subjective experiences of sensory flooding, suggesting sensory hyperexcitability. To identify the extent to which behavioural indices of hyperexcitability are related to non‐psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia, we tested a non‐clinical population measured for schizophrenia‐like traits (schizotypy), and a behavioural measure of sensory hyperexcitability, specifically the number of illusions seen in the Pattern Glare Test. Two samples totaling 913 individuals completed an online version of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire – Brief Revised (SPQ‐BR) and the Pattern Glare Test. Individuals with higher schizotypy traits reported more illusions in the Pattern Glare Test. Additionally, one of the three SPQ‐BR factors, the disorganized factor, significantly predicted the number of illusions reported. These data illustrate the potential for research in non‐clinical samples to inform clinically relevant research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous behavioural data indicate lower word‐nonword recognition accuracy in association with a high level of positive schizotypy, psychopathy, or motor impulsivity traits, each with some unique contribution, in the general population. This study aimed to examine the neural underpinnings of these associations using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a volunteer sample. Twenty‐two healthy English‐speaking adults completed self‐report measures of schizotypy (Oxford‐Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences [O‐LIFE]), psychopathy (Triarchic Psychopathy Measure [TriPM]), and impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale [BIS‐11]) and underwent whole‐brain fMRI while performing a lexical decision task (LDT) featuring high and low‐frequency words, real nonwords, and pseudohomophones. Higher positive schizotypy (Unusual Experiences) was associated with lower cerebellum activity during identification of low‐frequency words (over real nonwords). Higher Boldness (fearless dominance) and Meanness (callous aggression) facets of psychopathy were associated with lower striatal and posterior cingulate activity when identifying nonwords over words. Higher Motor Impulsivity was associated with lower activity in the fusiform (bilaterally), inferior frontal (right‐sided), and temporal gyri (bilaterally) across all stimuli‐types over resting baseline. Positive schizotypy, psychopathy, and impulsivity traits influence word‐nonword recognition through distinct neurocognitive mechanisms. Positive schizotypy and psychopathy appear to influence LDT performance through brain areas that play only a supportive (cerebellum) or indirect role in reading‐related skills. The negative association between Motor Impulsivity and activations typically found for phonological processing and automatic word identification indicates a reduced bilateral integration of the meaning and sound of mental word representations, and inability to select the appropriate outputs, in impulsive individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Similarly to patients with schizophrenia, non‐clinical individuals with schizotypal traits have been reported to show an increased risk for suicide‐related outcomes. We aimed to assess suicidal ideation, and to determine factors that may have associations with help‐seeking attitudes in high schizotypal individuals as compared to low schizotypal individuals. Method: We carried out a cross‐sectional survey. The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire, the attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help scale–short form, the disclosure expectations scale, the scale of suicide ideation, the stigma of suicide scale‐short form, the literacy of suicide scale, and the depression anxiety stress scales were administered to 504 college students. A total of 51 students were classified in the high‐schizotypy group, and 50 were classified in the low‐schizotypy group. Results: High‐schizotypal students experienced significantly more suicidal ideation, had greater literacy of suicide, had more glorification of suicide, had higher anticipated risks of disclosure and more negative help‐seeking attitudes than low‐schizotypal students. After controlling for sociodemographic (age, gender, income and tobacco use) and psychosocial variables (personal psychiatric history, family history of suicide, personal history of suicide attempt[s]), depression and suicide ideation), disclosure expectations had both a significant negative independent effect through anticipated risks, and a positive independent effect through anticipated benefits, on high‐schizotypal students' help‐seeking attitudes. Conclusion: The apprehension and reluctance to seek help found in high‐schizotypal students highlight an urgent need to further understand barriers to help‐seeking among at‐risk adolescents, and what may motivate them to reach out for support when they are more at‐risk for suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schizotypy is a set of personality traits existing in the general population that represents vulnerability for developing psychosis. Previous studies have suggested that negative schizotypy correlates with empathy, but mixed results have been shown for positive schizotypy. The present study aimed to explore the potential mediating role of emotion regulation upon schizotypy and empathy. The valid sample consisted of 595 college students who completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the Chapman Psychosis Proneness Scales. Pearson correlations between schizotypy, emotion regulation, and empathy were performed to build potential mediating models. Structural equation modeling and bootstrap analyses were used to examine the mediation effects of emotion regulation. Our results showed that negative schizotypy was correlated with both cognitive and affective empathy whereas positive schizotypy only correlated with the Fantasy and Personal Distress subscales after multiple comparisons corrections. The Cognitive Reappraisal subscale of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire was positively correlated with empathy whereas the Expressive Suppression subscale was negatively associated with affective empathy. More importantly, there was a significant mediating effect of cognitive reappraisal on the relationship between negative schizotypy and cognitive empathy. Our findings suggest that a higher level of negative schizotypy is associated with poorer cognitive and affective empathy, and cognitive reappraisal may mediate the effect of negative schizotypy on cognitive empathy. These findings highlight the optimal usage of cognitive reappraisal in social interactions, and may help to improve empathy, especially for individuals with a high level of negative schizotypy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important for positive well‐being and social engagement to understand how people predict future emotions, an ability known as affective forecasting. However, mechanisms underpinning the change to affective forecasting are not well understood in people with subclinical psychiatric symptoms. The current study differentiated components that comprise affective forecasting and investigated how non‐clinical features relate to these. We recruited 319 participants to complete the social affective forecasting task and respond to questionnaires that captured schizotypal and autistic traits as well as depressive symptoms. Associations between affective forecasting and subclinical features were investigated using correlations, regression, and structure equation modeling. Results showed that interpersonal features of schizotypal traits negatively predicted anticipated emotions in positive social conditions via in‐the‐moment feelings but not via mental simulation. Findings highlight that in‐the‐moment feelings may be an intervention target to help people who have difficulties with social interactions to anticipate more pleasure for future social events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Recent works have developed two self-report measures of general and social anhedonia for adolescents. Little is known about the relative stability of these constructs and their associations with psychopathological symptoms over time.Methods: A total of 694 Chinese adolescents aged 14-16 years (74.6% girls) completed measures of anhedonia at two time points 1 year apart. General anhedonia was assessed using the Snaith Hamilton Pleasure Scale while social anhedonia was assessed using the Adolescent Anticipatory and Consummatory Interpersonal Pleasure Scale.Results: General and social anhedonia significantly increased over time, F(1, 693) =16.54, p < .001, η2  = 0.02; F(1, 693) =27.31, p < .001, η2  = 0.04. Greater depression (b = -0.10, p = .006), suicidal ideation (b = -0.55, p < .001), generalized anxiety (b = -0.28, p = .012), social anxiety (b = -0.28, p = .002), and interpersonal stressful events (b = -0.20, p = .035) were associated with greater social anhedonia. Suicidal ideation was associated with general anhedonia (b = 0.29, p = .004). Higher positive schizotypal personality was associated with less general and social anhedonia (b = -0.18, b = 0.16, all p < .001) whereas higher negative schizotypal personality was associated with greater general and social anhedonia (b = 0.34, b = -0.58, all p < .001).Conclusions: This finding suggests that anhedonia is an increasing trend during adolescence. The relationship between anhedonia and psychopathology was specific to social anhedonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abnormalities in language processing, psychological distress, and subtle neurodevelopmental features called neurological soft signs (NSS) are expressed by people with dyslexia and those scoring highly on schizotypy. We investigated whether the expression of NSS, distress, and schizotypy predicted dyslexia status. Participants (N = 96, 48 dyslexic) selected to be age and sex matched, completed the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire, General Health Questionnaire, Neurological Evaluation Scale, and the National Adult Reading Test (NART; a measure of verbal intelligence). Dyslexia status was predicted by higher total NSS and disorganized schizotypy scores in the absence of NART. However, even with the inclusion of NART, disorganized schizotypy remained a significant predictor. The findings suggest that disorganized features of schizotypy could be a significant factor for those with dyslexia. Conversely, more attention needs to be given to developmental language disorders in those who score highly on schizotypy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning from feedback is essential for daily functioning, with factors that impact learning having implications for healthy and clinical populations. Reinforcement learning appears impaired across the psychosis continuum, with deficits reported in patients with psychotic disorders as well as high schizotypes from the general population. Stress can impair learning, and sensitivity to stress is present along the psychosis continuum. The aim of the present study was to understand if stress impairs reinforcement learning in those at the lower end of the psychosis continuum. We investigated both naturalistic stress in everyday life using daily hassles (Study 1: n = 70; 31% male, M age = 22.67 years) and acute psychosocial stress using the Trier Social Stress Test (Study 2: n = 57; 32% male, M age = 22.43 years). In the presence of naturalistic stress, learning did not differ across schizotypes. However, under acute psychosocial stress, high schizotypes experienced impaired learning. Our results suggest trail‐and‐error learning is robust to the ebbs and flows of everyday stress for high schizotypes; however, acute stress is associated with decrements in learning. This indicates that the magnitude of stressors should be considered when designing cognitive and functional interventions for those along the psychosis continuum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many psychological and sociological factors have been implicated in the development of conspiracy theory (CT) beliefs, analytical thinking has been considered a key protective factor. However, it is not clear if engaging in systematic or rigorous information searching is always protective, particularly if this involves a confirmation bias or a lack of scientific reasoning. For example, higher scores on autistic traits, which are commonly associated with a tendency to engage in systematic information searching, have been found to be associated with stronger endorsement of CT beliefs. Here, we investigated whether measures of analytical reasoning need to be refined to focus specifically on scientific reasoning, as analytical thinking has recently shown a positive association with conspiracy beliefs. A total of 565 adults with varying levels of autistic traits, completed measures of CT beliefs, standard analytical reasoning and information searching measures, but also measures of scientific reasoning and belief flexibility (using the bias against disconfirmatory evidence or BADE task). We found that standard measures of analytical thinking and active‐open minded thinking were positively associated with CT beliefs and autistic traits. Conversely, higher levels of scientific reasoning and belief flexibility were negatively associated with CT beliefs, autistic and schizotypal traits. The findings encourage the use of more focused measures of logical and scientific reasoning in both psychoeducation interventions and future research relating to CT beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the personality foundations of aggression typically implicates either (a) aspects of the so‐called "Dark Tetrad" or (b) severe mental disturbance (psychosis). The appearance of psychotic symptoms in general populations is termed schizotypy. We conducted two studies to compare the effects of dark personalities and schizotypy on aggression. Study 1 used standard inventories to investigate the overlap of Dark Tetrad traits with schizotypy in a sample of 977 undergraduates. All tetrad traits except narcissism were positively associated with schizotypy, but only at moderate levels. Study 2 administered the same personality battery to 303 members of an online community sample: Aggression outcomes were measured with both self‐reports and a behavioral measure—the Voodoo Doll Task. Regression analyses determined the unique contributions of the five personality variables. Two dark traits—psychopathy and sadism—were strong predictors of self‐report aggression. Schizotypy added incrementally to the Dark Tetrad in predicting both self‐report and behaviorally measured aggression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schizotypy and psychotic‐like experiences (PLE) form part of the wider psychosis continuum and may have brain structural correlates in nonclinical cohorts. This study aimed to compare the effects of differential schizotypy dimensions, PLE, and their interaction on hippocampal subfields and amygdala volumes in the absence of clinical psychopathology. In a cohort of 367 psychiatrically healthy individuals, we assessed schizotypal traits using the Oxford‐Liverpool Inventory of Life Experiences (O‐LIFE) and PLE using the short form of the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ‐16). Based on high‐resolution structural MRI scans, we used automated segmentation to estimate volumes of limbic structures. Sex and total intracranial volume (Step 1), PLE and schizotypy dimensions (Step 2), and their interaction terms (Step 3) were entered as regressors for bilateral amygdala and hippocampal subfield volumes in hierarchical multiple linear regression models. Positive schizotypy, but not PLE, was negatively associated with left amygdala and subiculum volumes. O‐LIFE Impulsive Nonconformity, as well as the two‐way interaction between positive schizotypy and PLE, were associated with larger left subiculum volumes. None of the estimators for right hemispheric hippocampal subfield volumes survived correction for multiple comparisons. Our findings support differential associations of hippocampus subfield volumes with trait dimensions rather than PLE, and support overlap and interactions between psychometric positive schizotypy and PLE. In a healthy cohort without current psychosis risk syndromes, the positive association between PLE and hippocampal subfield volume occurred at a high expression of positive schizotypy. Further studies combining stable, transient, and genetic parameters are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Delays in help‐seeking for anxiety are common; however, earlier interventions improve long‐term outcomes. This holds importance for high schizotypes since anxiety relates to psychotic symptom development. The study investigated whether schizotypal traits and anxiety itself influence help‐seeking behaviour. Methods: A non‐clinical student sample (N = 800) completed the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire, Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale and General Help‐Seeking Questionnaire, vignette version online. Results: Recognizing another's help need was associated with lower anxiety scores. A trend was observed between lower schizotypy scores and better recognition of self‐need for help. Actual help‐seekers (N = 163) had significantly higher schizotypy and anxiety scores than non‐help‐seekers. Conclusion: Schizotypal traits independently contribute to delays in help‐seeking for anxiety. Approaching informal help sources whom also have anxiety symptoms can delay formal help‐seeking, unless they have sought help themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Divergent thinking, the ability to generate multiple ideas from different perspectives, is considered a central component of the creative thinking process. While context, personality traits, and cognitive control abilities have individually been shown to have large effects on divergent thinking, their interrelationship is yet to be elucidated. In 83 healthy participants (Males = 42%), we investigated how context adaptation of divergent thinking is related to normal variations in autistic and positive schizotypal traits as well as to proactive and reactive cognitive control strategies. Context adaptation of divergent thinking—defined as the variance in the proportion of unique to total responses of a drawing divergent thinking task performed across four different contexts—was predicted by a 3‐way interaction of autistic traits, positive schizotypal traits, and cognitive control. Specifically, increasing reactive control improved context adaptation when positive schizotypal traits were high and autistic traits were low, while increasing proactive control was associated with improved context adaptation when both autistic and positive schizotypal traits were high. Both modes of cognitive control can enhance the ability to generate unique ideas across contexts, but this depends on the individuals' specific combinations of autistic and positive schizotypal trait levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Schizotypal trait expression and mentalizing impairments represent key factors associated with increased vulnerability for schizophrenia. In the current study, we analysed the nature of associations linking specific schizotypal personality features to mentalizing difficulties during adolescence. Furthermore, we examined the extent to which mentalizing difficulties mediate the relationship between schizotypal trait features and self‐reported thought problems. Methods: One hundred and five community adolescents (Mage = 15.72; SD = 1.91) completed a recently developed self‐report measure of mentalizing (Reflective Functioning Questionnaire [RFQ]), evaluating the degree of certainty (RFQc‐scale) and uncertainty (RFQu‐scale) with which individuals utilize mental state information to understand their own and others' behaviour. High scores on the RFQu‐scale reflect poor usage of mental state information, while high scores on the RFQc‐scale capture adaptive levels of certainty about mental states. Self‐report questionnaires were also used to assess schizotypal trait expression, thought problems and symptoms of anxiety/depression. Results: Linear regression models indicated that schizotypal features of social anxiety and odd speech accounted for increased RFQu scores, while odd speech also accounted for reduced RFQc scores. RFQu partially mediated the effects of social anxiety and odd speech on the level of thought problems in the sample. Conclusions: Present findings suggest that schizotypal features that impede interpersonal communication during adolescence are linked to difficulties in mental state understanding. Our study also provides original data suggesting that the effects of social anxiety and odd speech on psychosis‐risk may partially depend upon the level of mentalizing uncertainty. Mentalizing difficulties may constitute important clinical assessment and early prevention treatment targets in adolescents who demonstrate schizotypal features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study showed a negative correlation between the glutamate level in the anterior cingulate cortex and cognitive theory of mind in individuals with high level of schizotypy but not in non‐schizotypy individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Acquired brain damage is associated with a reduced capacity for empathy, and emerging evidence indicates that there may also be elevated levels of schizotypy. However, although a relationship between schizotypy and empathy has been identified in other populations, no study to date has tested whether this relationship is also evident following acquired brain damage, and if so, whether it is specific to certain types of brain damage, or specific types of empathy. Methods: People with acquired brain damage restricted to either frontal (N = 18) or non‐frontal (N = 24) neural structures and demographically matched controls (N = 48) completed an assessment of schizotypy and a measure of empathy that differentiated between cognitive, emotional, and social skills empathy. Results: Relative to the control group, people with frontal and non‐frontal brain injuries reported elevated schizotypy, with the frontal group also reporting lower social skills empathy. Only in the frontal group was there support for an association between schizotypy and empathy, and this was specific to the social skills component of empathy. Conclusions: Schizotypy levels are elevated following brain damage, and frontal brain injury is linked to greater difficulties with the social skills component of empathy. Schizotypy appears to be an important consideration when understanding the link between empathy and frontal brain damage, with higher schizotypy levels associated with reduced social skills empathy in this population. Future research is now needed to establish whether problems with more implicit aspects of social understanding are relevant to understanding the relationship between schizotypy and poor social behavioural outcomes identified in other clinical groups that present with frontal brain damage. Practitioner points: People with an acquired brain injury experience deficits in empathic processing as well as elevated levels of schizotypal traits.Schizotypy levels and social skills empathy were inversely related in people who had experienced a frontal acquired brain injury, suggesting that schizotypy might be important for understanding social skill difficulties in this particular population.These findings highlight the potential benefit of including social cognitive assessments and schizotypy measures in standard neuropsychological assessment batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deficits on saccade tasks, particularly antisaccade performance, have been reliably reported in schizophrenia. However, less evidence is available on saccade performance in relation to schizotypy, a personality constellation harboring risk for schizophrenia. Here, we report a large empirical study of the associations of schizotypy and neuroticism with antisaccade and prosaccade performance (Study I). Additionally, we carried out meta‐analyses of the association between schizotypy and antisaccade error rate (Study II). In Study I, N = 526 healthy individuals from the general population aged 18–54 years completed prosaccade and antisaccade tasks as well as the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Schizotypy was significantly associated with increased antisaccade error rate, with the disorganized dimension emerging as strongest predictor (β =.118, p =.007). Neuroticism emerged as a significant predictor for prosaccade gain (β =.103, p =.023) and antisaccade latency (β =.101, p =.025). In Study II, random‐effects meta‐analyses were performed on the published data and those from Study I. Meta‐analyses revealed significant associations (all p ≤.003) of antisaccade error rate with positive (g = 0.37), negative (g = 0.26), disorganized (g = 0.36) and overall schizotypy (g = 0.37). Overall, the present work replicates the association between antisaccade direction errors and schizotypy. Significant findings from meta‐analyses provide further evidence of the antisaccade error rate as a putative schizophrenia spectrum marker. There is limited evidence on eye movement performance in relation to schizotypy, necessitating large studies, and meta‐analysis. Here, we show that schizotypy shows small yet significant associations with the direction error rate on the antisaccade task. Neuroticism, a predisposition to experience enhanced negative emotions, was associated with saccadic response speed and spatial accuracy. Significant associations between schizotypy and antisaccade errors were also obtained in meta‐analyses. Overall, we conclude that the antisaccade error rate may be a schizophrenia spectrum indicator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We move our eyes to place the fovea into the part of a viewed scene currently of interest. Recent evidence suggests that each human has signature patterns of eye movements like handwriting which depend on their sensitivity, allocation of attention and experience. Use of implicit knowledge of how earth's gravity influences object motion has been shown to aid dynamic perception. We used a projected ball‐tracking task with a plain background offering no context cues to probe the effect of acquired experience about physical laws of gravitation on performance differences of 44 participants under a simulated gravity and an atypical (upward) antigravity condition. Performance measured by the unsigned difference between instantaneous eye and stimulus positions (RMSE) was consistently worse in the antigravity condition. In the vertical RMSE, participants took about 200 ms longer to improve to the best performance for antigravity compared to gravity trials. The antigravity condition produced a divergence of individual performance which was correlated with levels of questionnaire‐based quantified traits of schizotypy but not control traits. Grouping participants by high or low traits revealed a negative relationship between schizotypy trait level and both initiation and maintenance of tracking, a result consistent with trait‐related impoverished sensory prediction. The findings confirm for the first time that where cues enabling exact estimation of acceleration are unavailable, knowledge of gravity contributes to dynamic prediction improving motion processing. With acceleration expectations violated, we demonstrate that antigravity tracking could act as a multivariate diagnostic window into predictive brain function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Social deficits are already exhibited by people at risk for schizophrenia‐spectrum disorders. Technological advances have made passive detection of social deficits possible at granular levels. Method: In this real‐world study, we tested if schizotypy status (high/low) predicted two types of social behavior: (1) being around other people; and (2) actively socializing with others. We also examined if schizotypy influences relationships between social behavior and affect using subjective and objective instruments. Results: Our findings revealed that socializing with others was significantly decreased in the high schizotypy group. Positive affect increased in social situations and predicted later social behavior in those low, but not high, in schizotypy. Conclusion: Decreased social behavior in schizotypy may be explained, in part, by these individuals being less incentivized than their peers to pursue social situations. Future studies should test this explanation in larger samples exhibiting elevated positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This study examined whether thinking style mediated relationships between belief in conspiracy and schizotypy facets. A UK‐based sample of 421 respondents completed the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale (GCBS), Oxford‐Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences Short (O‐Life), and measures indexing preferential thinking style (proneness to reality testing deficits and Need for Cognition). Path analysis revealed direct and indirect relationships between Conspiracy Beliefs and schizotypy facets. Unusual Experiences had a direct effect on Conspiracy Beliefs and predicted Reality Testing and Need for Cognition. Preferential thinking style mediated the schizotypy‐belief in conspiracy relationship. This pattern of results (higher experiential‐based processing and lower Need for Cognition) was consistent with intuitive thinking. Introverted Anhedonia and Impulsive Nonconformity predicted Reality Testing and had indirect effects on Conspiracy Beliefs. Finally, Reality Testing predicted Conspiracy Beliefs, whereas Need for Cognition did not. These results confirm that cognitive processes related to thinking style mediate the schizotypy‐conspiracist beliefs relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of theories about the development and maintenance of paranormal beliefs have been raised in the literature. There is, however, a lack of studies designed to integrate the different perspectives. We reviewed the literature and explored a series of factors in a sample of 180 individuals. Seven variables showed significant correlation indices at α =.01. A regression analysis revealed subjective paranormal experience as the variable that contributed the most to the explanation of paranormal belief, z =.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) [.24,.56]. Need for achievement (z =.31, 95% CI [.11, to.46]), conditional reasoning (z =.10, 95% CI [.09,.28]), and schizotypy (z =.29, 95% CI [.09,.45]) also contributed significantly in the equation. The associations found between the subscales of the Needs Questionnaire and belief in the paranormal support the hipothesis that paranormal belief may serve basic psychological needs. Similarly, the association found in the case of schizotypy suggests that paranormal belief might be held within the context of psychopathology. There was no evidence, however, supporting the hypothesis of a reasoning deficit in believers. It was concluded that, once paranormal beliefs develop, there is an interaction between belief and experience that strongly contributes towards its maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The main goal of the present study was to explore the latent structure of schizotypy as an indicator of psychosis liability, in a community‐derived sample of adolescents. Links to mental health difficulties, prosocial behaviour, suicidal ideation, bipolar‐like experiences and psychotic‐like experiences (PLEs) (severity and distress) were compared across schizotypy latent profiles. Method: The present research included 1588 adolescents selected by a stratified random cluster sampling. The Oviedo Schizotypy Assessment Questionnaire (ESQUIZO‐Q), The Paykel Suicide Scale (PSS), The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), The Prodromal Questionnaire‐Brief (PQ‐B), The Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ), The Penn Matrix Reasoning Test (PMRT), The Family Affluence Scale‐II (FAS‐II), and The Oviedo Infrequency Scale (INF‐OV) were used. Results: Using latent profile analysis four latent classes (LC) were identified: "Positive schizotypy" (14.1%, n = 224), "Low schizotypy" (51.9%, n = 825), "Social Disorganization schizotypy" (27.2%, n = 432), and "High schizotypy" (6.7%, n = 107). The "High schizotypy" class scored higher on several psychometric indicators of psychopathology (ie, mental health difficulties, suicide ideation, bipolar‐like experiences and PLEs) relative to the other three LC. Conclusion: Four groups of adolescents with different patterns of schizotypal traits and different clinical‐pathological meaning were found. Deficits found across schizotypy latent profiles, resembling those found in patients with psychosis and ultra‐high risk samples. The identification of homogeneous subgroups of adolescents potentially at risk for psychosis may help us in the prevention of psychotic‐spectrum disorders and mental health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Psychotic‐like experiences (PLEs) are unusual experiences such as perceptual abnormalities and delusional‐like thoughts that resemble the symptoms of psychosis at the sub‐clinical level. PLEs are associated with sleep complaints in healthy and clinical samples; however, evidence for day‐to‐day associations between poor sleep and subsequent PLEs under naturalistic conditions is scarce. We hypothesized that poor sleep quality would predict next days' PLEs, and vice versa, daytime PLEs would be associated with worse subsequent sleep quality. Method: Seventy‐three university students with moderate to high levels of positive schizotypy participated in an experience sampling study. Participants rated their sleep each morning, as well as PLEs and affective states during the day over 3 weeks. Results: Multilevel regression models indicated that poor sleep quality predicted increased PLEs the following day. Poor sleep was linked to negative daytime mood that partially mediated the associations between sleep quality and next days' PLEs. Furthermore, PLEs were enhanced in the evening as compared to daytime reports. The prediction of poor sleep quality by previous days' PLEs was negligible. Conclusions: The results are consistent with the position that sleep‐related interventions might reduce the risk of psychosis, especially in individuals that tend to experience psychotic‐like phenomena and negative affect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To improve strategies for the early identification of individuals at a heightened risk for the development of psychosis, we investigated the relationships and interactions between 3 psychosis‐proneness dimensions for the development of schizophrenia spectrum psychosis: schizotypy, basic symptoms and the ultra‐high risk (UHR) criteria. Methods: Seventy‐seven UHR individuals and 79 healthy controls were assessed for schizotypy and basic symptoms using self‐report questionnaires at baseline. UHR participants were monthly assessed for conversion to psychosis over a mean period of 25.8 months. Results: Sixteen UHR participants (20.8%) converted to schizophrenia spectrum psychosis. In stepwise Cox regression, the interaction between basic symptoms and physical anhedonia was selected as a sole predictor of conversion in UHR participants, whereby the self‐reported number of the 8 basic symptoms significantly increased the risk for conversion in those with pronounced physical anhedonia. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that questionnaire‐assessed basic symptoms, irrespective of their predictive validity, may predict a psychotic breakdown in pre‐identified UHR individuals who are with genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia. Including all 3 psychosis‐proneness dimensions into prediction models might help establish a more valid pathogenetic model of schizophrenia, and moreover, may provide some clues about course alteration strategies in hopes of preventing UHR individuals from converting to psychosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the contribution of personality traits (HEXACO traits and Schizotypy) and social status dimensions (sociometric and perceived popularity) in understanding boys' and girls' respective academic achievement. The sample included 163 elementary school students from Serbia, aged 14–15 (87 girls and 76 boys). Regression analysis reveals that personality traits explain a similar amount of academic achievement variance in two gender groups (22% vs. 20% in girls' favor), but social status proves to be a better predictor of academic achievement for boys (27% vs. 4% in boys' favor). High Conscientiousness, perceived popularity as well as low extraversion turned out to be related to girls' academic achievement. Low Schizotypy and Honesty‐Humility, as well as high openness, sociometric, and perceived popularity turned out to be related to boys' academic achievement. Conscientiousness appears not to be related to boys' academic achievement. The results are discussed and recommendations for improving educational practices are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of the present study is to examine the heterogeneity of attenuated psychotic symptoms (PS) and related personality factors using a cluster analytic approach. Method: A large sample of participants from the general population was evaluated in terms of attenuated symptomatology (psychotic and affective) and two personality factors: encoding style and impulsivity traits. Results: Cluster analysis emphasized the existence of five independent clusters: High Psychosis, High Positive, High Negative, High Impulsive‐Low Psychosis, and Low Psychosis. Cluster comparisons demonstrated that the personality factors and PS are differentially involved in the clusters. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that reliable and relatively distinct clusters of individuals from the general population can be identified based on established PS and related personality factors. The fact that a variety of profiles was observed contributes to a better understanding of the nature of the heterogeneity characterizing PS and has clear theoretical and clinical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Introduction: The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) is a widely used self‐report measurement instrument for the assessment of schizotypal personality traits. However, the factor structure of the SPQ has been a matter of some debate. As a contribution to this debate, we examined the factor structure of the SPQ in Malaysian adults. Method: A total of 382 Malaysian adults completed a Malay translation of the SPQ. Confirmatory factory analysis was used to examine the fit of 3‐ and 4‐factor solutions for the higher‐order dimensionality of the SPQ. Ethnic invariance for the best‐fitting model was tested at the configural, metric, and scalar levels, and a multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine sex and ethnicity differences in domain scores. Results: The 4‐factor model provided a better fit to the data than did the 3‐factor model. The 4‐factor model also demonstrated partial measurement invariance across ethnic groups. Latent mean comparisons for sex and ethnicity revealed a number of significant differences for both factors, but effect sizes were small. Discussion: The 4‐factor structure of the SPQ received confirmatory support and can be used in Malay‐speaking populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Altered striatocortical functional connectivity has been suggested to be a trait marker of schizophrenia spectrum disorders, including schizotypal personality. In the present study, we examined the association between schizotypal personality traits and striatocortical functional connectivity in a sample of healthy adults. The German version of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire was obtained from N = 111 participants recruited from the general public. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired at 3T. Six striatal seed regions in each hemisphere were defined and striatocortical resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) as well as its lateralization indices was calculated. Regression analysis showed that schizotypy scores, especially from the positive dimension, were positively correlated with rsFC between ventral striatum and frontal cortex and negatively associated with rsFC between dorsal striatum and posterior cingulate. No significant associations were found between negative dimension schizotypy and striatocortical rsFC. We also found positive correlations between schizotypy total scores and lateralization index of right dorsal caudate and right rostral putamen. In conclusion, the present study extends previous evidence of altered striatocortical rsFC in the schizophrenia spectrum. The observed associations resemble in part the alterations observed in psychotic patients and their relatives, providing support for dimensionality from schizotypal personality to the clinical disorder. Hum Brain Mapp 39:288-299, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model systems of psychosis, such as schizotypy or sleep deprivation, are valuable in informing our understanding of the etiology of the disorder and aiding the development of new treatments. Schizophrenia patients, high schizotypes, and sleep-deprived subjects are known to share deficits in oculomotor biomarkers. Here, we aimed to further validate the schizotypy and sleep deprivation models and investigated, for the first time, their interactive effects on smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM), prosaccades, antisaccades, predictive saccades, and measures of psychotomimetic states, anxiety, depression, and stress. To do so, n519 controls and n517 high positive schizotypes were examined after both a normal sleep night and 24 h of sleep deprivation. Schizotypes displayed higher SPEM global position error, catch-up saccade amplitude, and increased psychotomimetic states. Sleep deprivation impaired SPEM, prosaccade, antisaccade, and predictive saccade performance and increased levels of psychotomimetic experiences. Additionally, sleep deprivation reduced SPEM gain in schizotypes but not controls. We conclude that oculomotor impairments are observed in relation to schizotypy and following sleep deprivation, supporting their utility as biomarkers in model systems of psychosis. The combination of these models with oculomotor biomarkers may be particularly fruitful in assisting the development of new antipsychotic or pro-cognitive drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Not all individuals who smoke cannabis report psychotic-like experiences. Given that risk factors for psychotic disorders are multifaceted, precipitating factors to psychotic-like experiences after cannabis are likely to be equally complex. Reduced neurocognitive performance is associated with both psychosis risk and cannabis use. Therefore, it is possible cognitive performance may differentiate those who report psychotic-like experiences after cannabis from those who do not. We determined whether those reporting psychotic/dysphoric experiences after cannabis had reduced neurocognitive performance compared to those reporting primarily euphoric experiences. Methods Participants were recruited on the basis of responses to the cannabis high captured by the Psychosis-Dysphoric and Euphoric experiences subscales from the Cannabis Experiences Questionnaire (CEQ). Results Compared to participants reporting primarily euphoric cannabis experiences ( n = 36; 44% male; mean age (SD) = 28 (9) years), those who reported psychotic/dysphoric experiences ( n = 40; 45% male; mean age (SD) = 26 (5) years) demonstrated significantly faster responses to a trial and error learning task. In the presence of distracters, those with psychotic/dysphoric experiences after cannabis made more errors on a Continuous Performance Task. Conclusions Those who report psychotic/dysphoric experiences after cannabis have subtle inefficiencies in their cognitive processes. The multiple factors which predict vulnerability to psychotic-like experiences after cannabis require further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between learned variations in attention and schizotypy was examined in two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants low on a negative subscale of schizotypy exhibited an explicit bias in overt attention towards stimuli that were established as predictive of a trial outcome, relative to stimuli that were irrelevant. The same participants also showed a bias in learning about these stimuli when they presented in a novel context. Neither of these effects was observed in participants high in schizotypy. In Experiment 2, participants low on the negative subscale of schizotypy exhibited faster reaction times towards a target that was cued by a stimulus that had a history of predictive validity relative to a stimulus that had a history of irrelevance. Again, this effect was not present in participants high in schizotypy. These results imply a disruption in the normal allocation of attention to cues that have predictive significance in schizotypy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire ( SPQ) is a self-report measure assessing symptoms of schizotypy. The SPQ has been used in both normative and clinical samples and has much theoretical and empirical support. A three-factor structure of the SPQ, derived on the basis of work in schizophrenia, consisting of Cognitive- Perceptual, Interpersonal, and Disorganized factors, has been well replicated. The present study aimed to (i) validate this three-factor structure in the Chinese version of the SPQ in a sample of individuals of Chinese ethnicity, and (ii) test for invariance across sex. Methods A total of 209 (99 males) undergraduate university students ( Mage = 19.5, SD = 1.6) were administered the SPQ. Results Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a better fit between the data and the three-factor model compared with a one-factor model. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis also found strong measurement invariance across sex. Discussion The current results add to a growing body of literature evidencing cross-cultural validity of the SPQ and its invariance across sex. Research and clinical implications of the current results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schizotypy refers to a personality structure indicating 'proneness' to schizophrenia. Around 10% of the general population has increased schizotypal traits, they also share other core features with schizophrenia and are thus at heightened risk for developing schizophrenia and spectrum disorders. A key aspect in schizophrenia-spectrum pathology is the impairment observed in emotion-related processes. This review summarizes findings on impairments related to central aspects of emotional processes, such as emotional disposition, alexithymia, facial affect recognition and speech prosody, in high schizotypal individuals in the general population. Although the studies in the field are not numerous, the current findings indicate that all these aspects of emotional processing are deficient in psychometric schizotypy, in accordance to the schizophrenia-spectrum literature. A disturbed frontotemporal neural network seems to be the critical link between these impairments, schizotypy and schizophrenia. The limitations of the current studies and suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The aim of this study was to investigate the neurocognitive processes mediating the processing of emotional information during the integration of contextual and social information in a schizotypal population. Methods One hundred and thirty-one healthy participants were evaluated using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire and event-related potentials were recorded during a linguistic task in which participants read sentence pairs describing short social situations to themselves. The first sentence implicitly conveyed the positive or negative emotional state of a character. The second sentence was emotionally congruent or incongruent with the first sentence. Results Across our overall sample, our results revealed a greater N400 effect at right sites than left sites, whereas the late positive component effect was only observed at left sites. Concerning the correlation results, we observed a negative link between positive and global schizotypy and N400 modulation in response to congruent targets for positive context sentences. Results also showed a positive correlation between negative schizotypy and late positive component modulation in response to congruent targets for negative context sentences. Conclusions These results suggest that the different facets of the schizotypal personality traits influenced the integration of emotional context at the level of both early and later-mobilized neurocognitive processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Although schizotypy has been found to be reliably associated with a reduced recognition of facial affect, the few studies that have tested the association between basic face recognition abilities and schizotypy have found mixed results. This study formally tested the association in a large non-clinical sample with established neurological measures of face recognition. Methods Two hundred and twenty-seven participants completed the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences schizotypy scale and completed the Famous Faces Test and the Cardiff Repeated Recognition Test for Faces. Results No association between any schizotypal dimension and performance on either of the facial recognition and learning tests was found. The null results can be accepted with a high degree of confidence. Conclusions Further additional evidence is provided for a lack of association between schizotypy and basic face recognition deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research in a nonclinical sample has suggested that schizotypal, dissociative, and imaginative processesmay play a role in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms (Aardema & Wu, 2011). The present study aims to extend these findings in a clinical sample. Method: N = 75 adults (mean age = 37.99; 61.3% female), meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, diagnostic criteria for OCD completed a battery of self-report questionnaires measuring schizotypal, dissociative, and imaginative processes. Results: Hierarchical regression analyses revealed inferential confusion and dissociation to be the strongest predictors of OCD symptoms, replicating and extending the findings by Aardema andWu (2011). Conclusion: Results support the notion that inferential confusion and dissociation are important variables to consider in understanding symptoms of OCD independently from obsessive beliefs and negative mood states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context processing abnormalities may explain thought disorder in schizophrenia/schizotypy. This study aimed to assess predictive and integrative context processing in subjects with high or low scores on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire ( SPQ). The N400 amplitude was recorded during semantic judgment of sentence pairs ending with a lateralized expected or unexpected word from the same or a different category (related and unrelated violation). In both groups, the N400 amplitude was less negative for expected words versus unrelated violations, regardless of which hemisphere received the stimulus, and for related versus unrelated violations, but only for left-hemisphere stimuli. The N400 amplitude for unrelated violations was less negative in subjects with high SPQ scores for both hemispheres. These results indicate that subjects with schizotypal traits use context to predict or integrate congruent words, but fail to inhibit incongruent words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Deficits in facial affect recognition are well established in schizophrenia, yet relatively little research has examined facial affect recognition in hypothetically psychosis-prone or 'schizotypal' individuals. Those studies that have examined social cognition in psychosis-prone individuals have paid little attention to the association between facial emotion recognition and particular schizotypal personality features. The present study therefore sought to investigate relationships between facial emotion recognition and the different aspects of schizotypy. Methods: Facial affect recognition accuracy was examined in 50 psychiatrically healthy individuals assessed for level of schizotypy using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. This instrument provides a multidimensional measure of schizophrenia proneness, encompassing 'cognitive-perceptual', 'interpersonal' and 'disorganized' features of schizotypy. It was hypothesized that the cognitive-perceptual and interpersonal aspects of schizotypy would be associated with difficulties identifying facial expressions of emotion during a forced-choice recognition task using a standardized series of colour photographs. Results: As predicted, interpersonal aspects of schizotypy (particularly social anxiety) were associated with reduced accuracy on the facial affect recognition task, but there was no association between affect recognition accuracy and cognitive-perceptual features of schizotypy. Conclusions: These results suggest that subtle deficits in facial affect recognition in otherwise psychiatrically healthy individuals may be related to the vulnerability for interpersonal communication difficulties, as seen in schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a wealth of evidence that suggests that individuals with high schizotypal tendencies experience a number of biases when reasoning (). This study employs a non-clinical sample, screened for schizotypal tendencies to assess how delusional ideation impacts upon an individual's ability to reason about crime-based scenarios. Qualitative differences were found between high and low scorers in terms of the strategies and methods employed to reason about criminal behaviour. Future research needs to consider the creation of tests with greater sensitivity in order to assess and discover the boundaries of where reasoning biases occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates imaginative, dissociative, and schizotypal processes that are potentially relevant to obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. Students ( n = 377) completed questionnaires that assessed inferential confusion, absorption, schizotypal personality, and other domains. Hierarchical regression revealed that inferential confusion and absorption were the most consistent predictors of OC symptoms; other content predicted variance for specific OC symptoms. For example, schizotypal personality predicted checking and hoarding symptoms, but not cleanliness or ordering rituals. Immersive tendencies predicted cleanliness and hoarding but not checking or ordering rituals. Results are consistent with an inference-based model of OC, in which an overreliance on imagination during reasoning gives rise to experiences that are inconsistent with reality. This study suggests additional domains that may help explain why intrusive thoughts become obsessions. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 67:1-8, 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]