Mercedes Paino

Measurement invariance of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief across gender and age.

The purpose of this study was to examine the dimensional structure and measurement invariance of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief (SPQ-B) (Raine and Benishay, 1995) across sex and age in a representative sample of nonclinical adolescents and young adults. The sample consisted of 1789 adolescents and young adults (42.1% males), with a mean age of 17.1years (S.D.=2.9). The results indicated that the Likert version of the SPQ-B showed adequate psychometric properties (α total score 0.89). The schizotypal personality models that presented the best fit indices were Raine et al.s (1994) three-factor model and Stefanis et al.s (2004) four-factor model. In addition, the results support the measurement invariance of the SPQ-B across sex and age. When the latent means of the schizotypal dimensions were compared across sex and age, statistically significant differences were found. Consistent with previous literature, schizotypal personality is a multidimensional construct whose structure appears invariant across sex and age. Future studies should examine the invariance of schizotypal personality across cultures, as well as using the SPQ-B as a screening method in the general population to detect individuals at risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, given its rapid and easy administration.

Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire: New sources of validity evidence in college students

Schizotypal traits represent the behavioral expression of vulnerability to psychosis in general population. Among the most widely used measurement instruments, we could find the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) (Raine, 1991). However, some aspects of its psychometric quality have yet to be analyzed. The main goal of the present study was to gather new sources of validity evidence of the SPQ scores in non-clinical young adults. The final sample was made up of 1123 college students (M=20.3 years; S.D.=2.6). The study of the internal structure using exploratory factor analysis revealed that SPQ items were grouped in a theoretical structure of seven second-order factors. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the four-factor model (Paranoid) displayed better goodness-of-fit indices than the other hypothetical dimensional models tested. More complex measurement models, such as those tested using second-order confirmatory factor analyses and Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling, also showed adequate goodness-of-fit indices. The reliability of the SPQ scores ranged from 0.80 to 0.91. A total of 11 items showed differential functioning by gender. Advances in psychosis phenotype measurement open up new horizons to understand the structure and content of schizotypy.

Schizotypal traits and depressive symptoms in nonclinical adolescents.

The main goal of this study was to examine the relationship between schizotypal personality traits and depressive symptoms in a sample of nonclinical adolescents. The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief (J Personal Disord 1995;9:346-355) and the Reynolds Depression Adolescent Scale (Reynolds WM. Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale. Professional Manual. Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc; 1987) were administered. The sample was made up of 1384 adolescents (48.6% boys), with a mean (SD) age of 15.7 (1.0) years. The results of the study indicate a high degree of overlap between schizotypal experiences and depressive symptoms at a nonclinical level. Canonical correlation between the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief scales and the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale scales was 0.63, which represents 39.69% of the associated variance between the 2 sets of variables. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 4-dimensional model made up of the Positive, Interpersonal, Disorganized, and Depressive dimensions was that which best fit the data. Moreover, the dimensional structure underlying the schizotypal traits and depressive symptoms was found to be invariant across sex and age. These findings converge with data found in previous studies of both patients with schizophrenia and nonclinical adults and suggest that affective dysregulation is also present at a subclinical level. Future research should continue to make progress in the early detection of participants at risk of developing schizophrenia-spectrum disorders based on the early identification of these types of subclinical traits.

Psychometric Properties of the Revised Physical and Social Anhedonia Scales in Non-Clinical Young Adults

Anhedonia, a central dimension within the schizotypy construct, has been considered to be a promising vulnerability marker for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. The Revised Physical Anhedonia Scale (RPhA) and Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (RSAS) are two self-reports widely used in the assessment of anhedonia; however, they psychometric characteristics have been scarcely investigated in Spanish population. The objective of the current work was to study the psychometric properties of the Revised Physical and Social Anhedonia Scales in non-clinical young adults. The sample was composed of 728 college students with a mean age of 20.1 years (SD = 2.5). The data indicated that the scales showed adequate psychometric characteristics. The Cronbach alpha was 0.95 (RSAS) and 0.92 (RPhA) respectively. The confirmatory factor analysis carried out on the matrix of tetrachoric correlations showed that both scales presented an essentially unidimensional solution. The Revised Physical and Social Anhedonia Scales seem to be adequate for psychosis-risk assessment in non-clinical populations. Future research should further investigate the construct validity in other populations and cultures as well as study its relation to emotional aspects and cognitive endophenotypes.

Schizotypy, emotional–behavioural problems and personality disorder traits in a non-clinical adolescent population

The main goal of the present study was to examine the relationship between the schizotypy dimensions, emotional-behavioural problems and personality disorder traits in non-clinical general adolescent population. A total of 1455 participants (M=15.9years; S.D.=1.2) were administered the Oviedo Schizotypy Assessment Questionnaire (ESQUIZO-Q), the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+ (PDQ-4+). Correlation analyses revealed significant associations between the schizotypy and emotional-behavioural problems self-reported by adolescents. Participants with high scores in schizotypy dimensions, reported higher rates of affective and behavioural problems than those with low scores. Also, schizotypy dimensions and personality disorder traits were closely related in adolescent population. These data indicate, as occurs in clinical samples, the high overlap between schizotypy and personality disorder traits. Affective dysregulation and behavioural problems are present at the subclinical level in non-clinical adolescent population. These results have implications for the integration of schizotypy studies within the paradigms of developmental psychology and dimensional models of personality.

Testing measurement invariance of the schizotypal personality questionnaire-brief scores across Spanish and Swiss adolescents

Background Schizotypy is a complex construct intimately related to psychosis. Empirical evidence indicates that participants with high scores on schizotypal self-report are at a heightened risk for the later development of psychotic disorders. Schizotypal experiences represent the behavioural expression of liability for psychotic disorders. Previous factorial studies have shown that schizotypy is a multidimensional construct similar to that found in patients with schizophrenia. Specifically, using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief (SPQ-B), the three-dimensional model has been widely replicated. However, there has been no in-depth investigation of whether the dimensional structure underlying the SPQ-B scores is invariant across countries. Methods The main goal of this study was to examine the measurement invariance of the SPQ-B scores across Spanish and Swiss adolescents. The final sample was made up of 261 Spanish participants (51.7% men; M = 16.04 years) and 241 Swiss participants (52.3% men; M = 15.94 years). Results The results indicated that Raine et al.s three-factor model presented adequate goodness-of-fit indices. Moreover, the results supported the measurement invariance (configural and partial strong invariance) of the SPQ-B scores across the two samples. Spanish participants scored higher on Interpersonal dimension than Swiss when latent means were compared. Discussion The study of measurement equivalence across countries provides preliminary evidence for the Raine et al.s three-factor model and of the cross-cultural validity of the SPQ-B scores in adolescent population. Future studies should continue to examine the measurement invariance of the schizotypy and psychosis-risk syndromes across cultures.

Prevalencia de la sintomatología emocional y comportamental en adolescentes españoles a través del Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

espanolEl objetivo del presente estudio fue examinar la prevalencia de los sintomas emocionales y comportamentales, a traves del Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), en una muestra representativa de adolescentes espanoles. La muestra final la formaron un total de 1319 estudiantes, 631 varones (47,8%) y 688 (52,2%) mujeres, pertenecientes a 28 centros escolares. La edad media fue de 15,70 anos (DT = 1,02). Un porcentaje elevado de los participantes informo de algun problema emocional y/o comportamental. Asimismo, se encontraron diferencias estadisticamente significativas en funcion del sexo y la edad. Los resultados senalan que la adolescencia es una epoca del desarrollo donde la sintomatologia afectiva y comportamental es bastante frecuente. Estos resultados tienen implicaciones en la comprension de la psicopatologia en la infancia y la adolescencia, asi como de cara al establecimiento de centros asistenciales especificos y programas de prevencion y deteccion temprana especificamente disenados para este sector de la poblacion. EnglishThe objective of the present study was to examine the prevalence of emotional and behavioral symptoms,using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ),in a representative sample of adolescents from the general Spanish population. The final sample was composed of a total of 1,319 students, 631 male (47.8%) and 688 (52.2%) female, attending 28 schools. The mean age was 15.70 years (DT = 1.02). A high percentage of participants reported some emotional and/or behavioral problem. Statistically significant differences were found as a function of sex and age. Adolescence is a developmental stage where affective and behavioral symptomatology is fairly common. These results have implications for the comprehension of child and adolescent psychopathology as well as for the establishment of specific centers for assistance and prevention, and for early detection programs aimed at this specific sector of the population.

Psychometric properties of two measures for the assessment of schizotypy in adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Thinking and Perceptual Style Questionnaire (TPSQ) and the Multidimensional Schizotypal Traits Questionnaire-Reduced (MSTQ-R) in non-clinical adolescents. The final sample consisted of 991 participants with a mean age of 14.7 years (S.D.=1.8). The internal consistency of the TPSQ subscales ranged from 0.77 to 0.89, and that of the MSTQ-R subscales ranged from 0.62 to 0.81. Construct validity analysis from the TPSQ subscales showed a three-dimensional solution based on the factors social disorganisation, aberrant processing and anhedonia. For its part, factor analysis of the MSTQ-R also showed a three-dimensional solution based on the factors: positive symptoms, negative symptoms and impulsive-nonconformity. The TPSQ and MSTQ-R appear to have good psychometric properties and to be useful instruments for the measurement of schizotypy in adolescence. Moreover, the factor structure of these measures resembles that seen in young adult samples and provides further empirical evidence of the multidimensional structure of the instruments that we use to measure the complex schizotypy construct. Future research should explore in more depth the psychometric properties of these self-report instruments and improve our understanding of schizotypy in adolescents.

Assessing self-reported clinical high risk symptoms in community-derived adolescents: A psychometric evaluation of the Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief

BACKGROUND The reliable early identification of individuals at risk for psychosis requires well-validated screening measures. To date, there is little information about the psychometric properties of the screening measures for psychosis risk in nonclinical adolescents. The main purpose of the present study was to validate the Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief (PQ-B) in a community sample of non-clinical Spanish adolescents. We also analyzed the prevalence, factorial validity, and reliability of the PQ-B scores as well as the relationship between self-reported clinical high risk symptoms and schizotypal traits. METHOD Four hundred and forty-nine high-school students participated in a cross-sectional survey. The PQ-B and the Oviedo Schizotypy Assessment Questionnaire (ESQUIZO-Q) were used. RESULTS Although 85.1% of the total sample reported at least one clinical high risk symptom, only 16% of the adolescents scored above the standardized cut-off. The PQ-B revealed an essentially unidimensional structure. The internal consistency of the PQ-B total score was 0.93. Pearson correlation coefficients indicated a high degree of overlap between self-reported clinical high risk symptoms and Positive and Disorganized schizotypal traits. A Canonical correlation between the PQ-B total score and ESQUIZO-Q dimensions showed that the associated variance between both sets of variables was 45.4% (adjusted R(2)=0.45). CONCLUSIONS The PQ-B is a brief, easy, and reliable tool for screening self-reported clinical high risk symptoms in adolescents from the general population. These results also indicated that self-reported clinical high risk symptoms and schizotypal traits are closely associated at the subclinical level. The assessment of psychosis risk symptoms and their relationship with other distal risk factors, in a close-in strategy, may enhance the early identification of individuals at heightened risk for psychosis spectrum disorders.

Prevalencia de síntomas emocionales y comportamentales en adolescentes españoles

INTRODUCTION The main purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of symptoms of an emotional and behavioral nature, as well as prosocial type capabilities, measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, in non-clinical adolescents. METHOD The final sample was composed of a total of 508 students, 208 male (40.9%). The age of participants ranged from 11 to 18 years (M=13.91 years; SD=1.71). RESULTS The results show that a significant number of adolescents self-reported emotional and behavioral problems. The mean scores of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire subscales varied according the gender and age of the adolescents. CONCLUSIONS In the present study, the prevalence of psychological difficulties among adolescents was similar to that reported in other national and international studies. In view of these results, there is a need to develop programs for the early detection of these types of problems in schools in children and adolescents ages.