Ángela Campillo-Álvarez

Schizotypy in Adolescence : The Role of Gender and Age

Schizotypy is a multidimensional personality construct that appears to indicate psychosis proneness. Supposedly, schizotypal traits behave differently depending on a persons age and gender, but few studies have examined this relationship. In our study we used the Thinking and Perceptual Style Questionnaire and the Junior Schizotypy Scales. The sample was made up of 321 students (169 males) with an age range of 12 to 17 years. The results show significant differences in gender and age groups. Males score higher than females on Physical Anhedonia, Social Anhedonia, and Impulsive Non-Conformity scales, while females score higher or Positive Symptoms, Negative Evaluation, and Social Paranoia scales. Significant differences were also found among age groups: Unusual experiences, self-referent ideation, social paranoia, thought disorder, and negative evaluation were more frequent in later stages of adolescence. However, the meaning of this difference could be interpreted in terms of emotional turbulence rather than as a direct indicator of vulnerability to psychosis.

Test Reviewing in Spain.

The proper use of psychological tests requires that the measurement instruments have adequate psychometric properties, such as reliability and validity, and that the professionals who use the instruments have the necessary expertise. In this article, we present the first review of tests published in Spain, carried out with an assessment model developed by the European Test Commission and adapted to the Spanish context. The model permits both qualitative and quantitative assessment of the test. Ten tests were reviewed, selected from among those most widely used by Spanish professionals. Each test was sent to two peer reviewers for its assessment and, based on this assessment, a final report was drawn up. In general, it can be said that the quality of the ten measurement instruments is good, the reports highlighting their strong and weak points. In light of the reviews, some improvements are suggested for future editions of the tests, emphasizing the need to include in the Manuals as much evidence as possible on the validity of the tests. Finally, we discuss the details of the review process and analyze possible future directions for test assessment in Spain.