Reliability, Validity, and Factorial Structure of the Farsi Version of the Paranoia Checklist With Iranian Students

Behrooz Birashk,Mahboubeh Dadfar,Majid Heydari Charvadeh,Leila Amirpour

doi:10.1177/2158244018817129

Behrooz Birashk, Mahboubeh Dadfar + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244018817129

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Abstract

Paranoid thought is one of the most common symptoms in psychiatric disorders. The Paranoia Checklist is a brief screening and diagnostic tool for clinical and subclinical paranoia. It has been used in research, clinical, and non-clinical settings. The Paranoia Checklist has not had its validity examined in university settings in Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the validation of the Farsi version of Paranoia Checklist in a randomized cluster sample of 365 Iranian volunteer college students selected from the Payame Noor University of Mashhad in Iran. They completed the Paranoia Checklist, the General Paranoia Scale, and the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL-90-R). The mean score of the Paranoia Checklist was 35.50 ( SD = 7.21). The Cronbach’s α for the Paranoia Checklist was .87, indicating high internal consistency. The Paranoia Checklist correlated .42 with the General Paranoia Scale, .38 with the SCL-90-R subscales of Anxiety (ANX), Hostility (HOS), and Paranoia Ideation (PAR), and .37 with the Interpersonal Sensitivity (INTS), denoting moderate construct and criterion-related validity. The results of the factor analysis of the Paranoia Checklist identified three factors associated with the paranoid thoughts. The Paranoia Checklist has a multidimensional structure, and adequate validity and reliability. It can be used in the non-clinical, clinical, and research settings to measure paranoia in Iran.

Highlights

Paranoia is a continuum of clinical and subclinical experiences, and is one of the main symptoms of psychosis
The Paranoia Checklist score correlated with the General Paranoia Scale and the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90)-R subscales of ANX, Interpersonal Sensitivity (INTS), HOS, and Paranoia Ideation (PAR) scores, all statistically significant, indicating good construct validity
The results are consistent with other studies, for example, Yamauchi et al (2007) indicated that the Japanese-version Paranoia Checklist (JPC) scores positively correlated with the Paranoia Scale and the Peters et al Delusions Inventory (PDI)

Summary

Introduction

Paranoia is a continuum of clinical and subclinical experiences, and is one of the main symptoms of psychosis. As one of the personality characteristics, can have a significant impact on the mental and physical health. Paranoid thoughts cause severe psychological stress that can cause mental disorders. There are paranoid thoughts in the most of mental disorders such as obsessive compulsive, depression, schizophrenia, and mania disorder (Brown, 2010; Freeman, 2007; Freeman & Garety, 2004; Freeman, Garety, Bebbington, Slater, et al, 2005; Freeman et al, 2004; Freeman, Garety, Kuipers, Fowler, & Bebbington, 2002; Freeman et al, 2003). There are some risk factors for paranoid symptoms (Hartmann, Sundag, & Lincoln, 2014). Paranoid thoughts can be reduced through targeting negative emotions and self-esteem (Lincoln, Hohenhaus, & Hartmann, 2013). State anxiety increases paranoid ideation (Lincoln, Lange, Burau, Exner, & Moritz, 2010)

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