Clinical functioning and cutoff of eccentricity dimension with psychiatric patients and non-patients

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study investigated the Eccentricity scale's clinical functioning from the Dimensional Clinical Personality Inventory 2 (IDCP-2). Additionally, we sought to establish a cutoff for a screening scenario to be taken as the first indicator of Eccentricity characteristics’ possible clinically relevant functioning. MethodIn total, 2167 adults, aged from 18 to 90years (M=28.98, SD=11.12), being 1244 women (63%), and the majority of undergraduate students (67.9%). Total sample was comprised into five groups, namely, outpatients diagnosed with both schizotypal and schizoid PDs (n=3), outpatients diagnosed with schizotypal PD (n=5), outpatients diagnosed with schizoid PD (n=2), outpatients diagnosed with other PDs and clinical disorders (n=172), and a general population-based sample (n=1985). Not all participants answered all the items from IDCP-2; therefore, we used the equating procedure. ResultsThe groups were statistically different in ANOVA. For the −0.40 cutoff in the theta metric scale, equivalent to a total score of 38, the area under the curve was equal to 0.85, reaching 90% of sensitivity and 87.4% of specificity. ConclusionsFindings provide clinical data on the Eccentricity scale, supporting its professional use in a clinical setting; specifically, we suggested a clinical cutoff to the scale, helping the professional address typical characteristics from schizoid schizotypal functioning.