Abstract
BackgroundSchizotypy 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.MethodsThe 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).ResultsThe 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.DiscussionThe 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.
Highlights
The study of clinical and subclinical psychosis phenotypes has been advanced in the last two decades [1]
Descriptive statistics of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief (SPQ-B) items The mean and standard deviation for the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ)-B items in both samples are shown in table 1
The results support configural and partial strong measurement invariance of the SPQ-B scores across the two samples, and provide preliminary validity for the factorial equivalence of schizotypy across countries. These results are of essential importance, for the study of the construct validity of schizotypy and subclinical psychosis phenotype, and for the application and utility of the SPQ-B in cross-cultural research and our understanding of the phenotypic expression of schizotypy from a developmental perspective
Summary
The study of clinical and subclinical psychosis phenotypes has been advanced in the last two decades [1]. Healthy adolescents and young adults who report schizotypal experiences present subtle emotional, behavioural, neurocognitive, and/or social deficits [2,4,18,19,20,21,22,23], similar to those found in patients with psychosis and in those with schizotypal personality disorder. Schizotypal traits and experiences share the same risk factor as evidenced in clinical psychosis (e.g., trauma, urbanicity, age) [24]. In this sense, schizotypal experiences and traits would represent the behavioural expression of latent vulnerability to psychosis [1]. There has been no in-depth investigation of whether the dimensional structure underlying the SPQ-B scores is invariant across countries
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