M133. DISCRIMINATION PHENOMENA AND THE LEVEL OF SCHIZOTYPY

Abstract

BackgroundSeveral have suggested a link between discrimination phenomena and psychotic disorders. Since this is a potentially modifiable factor, it seems important to clarify the links between discrimination and psychotic disorders. In the hypothesis of the psychotic continuum, schizotypal features in the general population are intermediate phenotypes in schizophrenia studies. In this study, the aim was to study the links between discrimination and level of schizotypy in the general population. We assumed that exposure to discrimination experiences is associated with increased levels of schizotypy.MethodsSubjects from the general population (N = 1456), without psychotic disorders, were recruited in 17 cities and 6 countries (Brazil, Spain, France, Holland, Italy, UK). Each subject completed the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE), a autoquestionaire considered to assess the level of psychometric schizotypy (with positive, negative and depressive dimensions) and the 20-item Perceived Discrimination Scale developed by Williams et al. Linear regression analyzes were used with discrimination as an explanatory variable and CAPE scores as variables to be explained.ResultsWe show that an increase in the perceived discrimination score was associated with significantly higher levels of schizotypy, in the positive (p = 1.7.10-10), negative (p = 3.4.10-10) and the depressed dimensions (p = 2.1.10-10). In more than half of the subjects who reported discrimination experiences, the reason for the discrimination invoked was not one of the reasons given. Ethnicity remains, however, a major cause of reported discrimination.DiscussionThe stress-vulnerability model could explain the link between discrimination and schizotypy, though dysregulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis and cortisol secretion in subjects with schizotypy, preventing them from responding adaptively to social stress. Psychological and social factors also seem to play a role in stress management.