Does childhood trauma predict schizotypal traits? A path modelling approach in a cohort of help-seeking subjects

Schizotypy constitutes a susceptibility to beneficial and deleterious schizotypal traits, ranging from coping mechanisms to schizotypal personality disorder on a psychosis continuum. Growing evidence indicates a relationship between childhood adversity and trauma and schizotypy. However, the exact influence of childhood adversity and trauma on schizotypy and its relation to sex is not sufficiently understood. Therefore, we investigated sex-adjusted connections between childhood adversity and trauma subdomains (emotional/physical/sexual abuse, emotional/physical neglect) and positive (magical ideation, perceptual aberration) as well as negative schizotypy (physical/social anhedonia). In total, 240 outpatients of the Early Detection and Intervention Centre of the University Hospital Cologne were assessed with the Trauma and Distress Scale for childhood adversity and trauma and the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales for schizotypy. Path analyses were performed to investigate sex-adjusted correlations. The well-fitting path model of the total sample linked emotional abuse to magical ideation (p = 0.03; SE = 0.20) and emotional neglect to social anhedonia (p = 0.01; SE = 0.26). In females, physical abuse predicted magical ideation (p = 0.01; SE = 0.33), while emotional neglect forecasted physical anhedonia (p = 0.03; SE = 0.34) and social anhedonia (p = 0.03; SE = 0.32). In males, sexual abuse predicted perceptive aberration (p = 0.04; SE = 0.19) and emotional abuse forecasted magical ideation (p = 0.03; SE = 0.27). Overall, the significance of sex-specific interrelations between trauma and schizotypy were highlighted. Magical ideation and perceptive aberration occurred prominently in the absence of negative and disorganized schizotypy, thus positive schizotypy could be discussed as a beneficial expression of coping with emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Furthermore, emotional neglect should be addressed particularly to prevent deleterious negative schizotypy in females.Trial registration number (20-1243), date of registration (May 19th 2020), retrospectively registered.

Affect Dynamic Signatures of Psychosis Risk Across Multiple Timescales and Contexts

There is a critical need for identifying time-sensitive and cost-effective markers of psychosis riskearly in the illness course. One solution may lie in affect dynamics, or the fluctuations of affect across time, which have been demonstrated to predict transitions in psychopathology. Across three studies, the current research is the first to comprehensively investigate affect dynamics in relation to subthreshold positive symptoms (perceptual aberration and magical ideation) and negative symptoms (social anhedonia) of the psychosis spectrum. Across multiple timescales and contexts, affect dynamics were modeled from inexpensive laboratory paradigms and social media text. Findings provided strong evidence for positive symptoms linked to heightened magnitude and frequency of affective fluctuations in response to emotional materials. Alternatively, negative symptoms showed modest association with heightened persistence of baseline states. These affect dynamic signatures of psychosis risk provide insight on the distinct developmental pathways to psychosis and could facilitate current risk detection approaches.

The Relationship between working memory and expressed emotion in the related caregivers of psychotic patients

Objective: To investigate the relationship between Expressed Emotion (EE) and working memory (WM) capacity in the caregivers of patients with psychosis, controlling for the potential confounds, namely, personality traits, subsyndromal psychotic symptoms, burden of care and the patient’s illness severity. Materials and Methods: The study covered 152 related caregivers of psychotic patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder with a psychotic component. The study continued with 120 participants who met the recruitment criteria. Patients were assessed with a Structured Clinical Interview for Axis I Disorders (SCID-I), the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), and the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI). For related caregivers; SCID-I, Expressed Emotion Scale (EES), Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI); Magical Ideation Scale; Physical Anhedonia Scale; Social Anhedonia Scale; Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale (ZCBS), and Auditory Consonant Trigram Test (ACT) were used. A stepwise regression analysis was employed to analyze the relevant variables that had an independent impact on EES scores. Results: There was a significant negative relationship between the ACT and EES scores (r=-.25, p<0.01). The ZCBS score (beta: 0.355, p<0.01), Harm Avoidance subscale of the TCI (beta: 0.231, p<0.01), and CGI overall improvement subscale (beta: 0.237, p<0.01) were independently associated with the EES score. Conclusions: There have been few studies investigating the biological basis of this clinical characteristic. The present study found no significant relationship between WM and EE in terms of the effect of WM in the caregivers of patients with psychosis.

Exploring Identity Disturbance and Psychotic Spectrum Symptoms as Predictors of Borderline and Schizotypal Personality Disorders

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) were introduced in DSM-III and retained in DSM-5 Section II. They often co-occur and some aspects of the clinical differentiation between the 2 diagnoses remain unclear (e.g., psychotic-like features and identity disturbance). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> The present study explored if self-reported identity disturbance and psychosis proneness could discriminate between the BPD and SPD DSM-5 diagnoses. All patients were interviewed with the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Personality Disorders, and administered the Inventory of Personality Organization, Self-Concept and Identity Measure, Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire, Perceptual Aberration Scale, and the Magical Ideation Scale. <b><i>Results:</i></b> A total of 105 patients were initially assessed, 26 were excluded, and the final sample (<i>N =</i> 79) was composed of 34 BPD patients, 25 SPD patients, and 20 patients with co-occurring SPD and BPD. The BPD group (<i>n</i> = 34) was first compared with the pure SPD group (<i>n</i> = 25), and secondly with the total group of patients diagnosed with SPD (<i>n</i> = 25 + 20). Logistic regression analyses indicated that primitive defenses and disorganization best differentiated the BPD and the pure SPD group, while primitive defenses and interpersonal factor along with perceptual aberrations best differentiated the BPD and the total SPD group. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Identity disturbance did not predict the diagnostic groups, but BPD patients were characterized by primitive defenses, which are closely related to identity disturbance. Pure SPD was characterized by oddness/eccentricity, while the lack of specificity for cognitive-perceptual symptoms suggests that the positive symptoms do not differentiate BPD from SPD.

Cognitive Empathy as Imagination: Evidence From Reading the Mind in the Eyes in Autism and Schizotypy

How is cognitive empathy related to sociality, imagination, and other psychological constructs? How is it altered in disorders of human social cognition? We leveraged a large data set (1,168 students, 62% female) on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET), the Autism Quotient (AQ), and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ-BR) to test the hypotheses that the RMET, as a metric of cognitive empathy, reflects mainly social abilities, imagination, or both. RMET showed the expected female bias in performance, though only for eyes that expressed emotions and not for neutral expressions. RMET performance was significantly, and more strongly, associated with the AQ and SPQ subscales that reflect aspects of imagination (AQ-Imagination and SPQ-Magical Ideation) than aspects of social abilities (AQ-Social, AQ-Communication, and SPQ-Interpersonal subscales). These results were confirmed with multiple regression analysis, which also implicated increased attention (AQ-Attention Switching and, marginally non-significantly, AQ-Attention to Detail) in RMET performance. The two imagination-related correlates of RMET performance also show the strongest sex biases for the AQ and SPQ: male biased in AQ-Imagination, and female biased in SPQ-Magical Ideation, with small to medium effect sizes. Taken together, these findings suggest that cognitive empathy, as quantified by the RMET, centrally involves imagination, which is underdeveloped (with a male bias) on the autism spectrum and overdeveloped (with a female bias) on the schizotypy spectrum, with optimal emotion-recognition performance intermediate between the two. The results, in conjunction with previous studies, implicate a combination of optimal imagination and focused attention in enhanced RMET performance.

Cognitive Gain or Handicap: Magical Ideation and Self-Absorption in Clinical and Non-clinical Participants

Background: This study aimed to examine magical ideation and absorption traits across non-clinical and clinical groups to determine their potential adaptive and maladaptive functions.Method: We enrolled 760 healthy participants from neighboring communities (female = 53.2%). Moreover, we recruited 318 patients (female = 66.5%), which included 25, 183, and 110 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders, respectively. Potentially adaptive and maladaptive sociocognitive functions were measured to determine the role of magical ideation and self-absorption in patients with psychiatric disorders.Results: The degree of magical ideation and absorption gradually increased in the following order: anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Furthermore, enhanced self-absorption-related enhanced consciousness traits were essential indicators of the presence of self-integration weakness in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.Conclusion: Magical ideation and psychological absorption may be considered as mental model construction functions, which result in both gains and handicaps in social adaptation.

A Mágikus Fogalomképzés Skála hazai változatának kialakítása

Háttér: A pszichózisra való sérülékenység feltárása és a korai intervenció a klinikai gyakorlat és a kutatások fontos részét képezik. A Mágikus Fogalomképzés Skála az egyik leggyakrabban alkalmazott önjellemző kérdőív, amelyet a pszichózisra való hajlam feltárására dolgoztak ki. Meglepő azonban, hogy a Mágikus Fogalomképzés Skála pszicho­ metriai jellemzőit klinikai mintán szinte alig vizsgálták. Célkitűzés: A tanulmány fő célja a Mágikus Fogalomképzés Skála faktorszerkezetének feltárása nagy elemszámú egyetemi hallgatói mintán (n = 1730) és pszichiátriai betegek (n = 319) körében. Módszerek: A kérdőív faktorszerkezetét megerősítő (egydimenziós, többdimenziós szerkezet, bifaktoros elrendezés) és feltáró faktorelemzések, valamint parallel­elemzések segítségével vizsgáltuk. A skálák megbízhatóságát a hagyományos módszerek mellett (pl. Cronbach­α) modellalapú megbízhatósági becslésekkel (hierarchikus ómega) is jellemeztük. A faktorszerkezet elemzését követően a valószínűségi tesztelméleti alapokon nyugvó Tétel­válasz elmélet (Item Response Theory, IRT) segítségével az item­paraméterek becslését (nehézség és diszkrimináció) és az eltérő tételműködést is megvizsgáltuk, majd egy rövid, 15 tételes változatot alakítottunk ki, amelynek a kritériumvaliditását más mérőeszközök felhaszná- lásával teszteltük (pl. Szkizotípia Személyiség Kérdőív rövid változat; Davis­féle Empátia Kérdőív). Eredmények: A parallel­elemzés a hallgatói mintán 3 faktort, míg a klinikai mintán 2 dimenziót valószínűsített. Mindkét minta esetében a negatív tételek önálló dimen ziót alkottak, amit járulékos faktornak tekintetve a későbbiekben nem elemeztünk. A megerősítő faktorelemzés a normatív hallgatói mintán a bifaktoros struktúrát támasztotta alá, ahol az általános faktor mellett két speciális dimenzió jelent meg: paranormális hiedelmek és mágikus okság/spiritualitás (RMSEA = 0,052; CFI = 0,993; TLI = 0,990). A klinikai mintán az egydimenziós szerkezet adta a legjobb illeszkedési mutatókat (RMSEA = 0,032; CFI = 0,970; TLI = 0,965). A 15 tételre rövidített skála jó pszichometriai jellemzőkkel rendelkezett, bár az IRT elemzés rávilágított arra, hogy néhány tétel eltérő jelentést hordoz a nemek (nők vs. férfiak) vagy a vizsgálati minta típusa (normatív vs. klinikai) szerinti összevetéskor. Következtetések: Eredményeink megerősítik, hogy a mágikus fogalomalkotás a klinikai mintán egydimenziós modellel ragadható meg leginkább, ezzel szemben a normatív hallgatói mintán már inkább egy bifaktoros struktúra valószínűsíthető, amelynek két speciális dimenziója az adaptív (mágikus okság/spiritulaitás) és maladaptív (paranormális hiedelmek) sajátosságok mentén különül el.Background: Study of vulnerability to psychosis and early intervention is an area of great clinical impact and research. The Magical Ideation Scale (MIS) is among the most widely used instruments for the assessment of psychosis proneness. However, there has been little research on the psychometric properties of the MIS in clinical sample. Aims: The main goal of the present work was to study the dimensional structure underlying the MIS in a large sample of students (n = 1.730) and clinical subjects (n = 319). Methods: The structures of the MIS were examined by confirmatory (e.g., single-factor model, model with second-order factor, bifactor model) and exploratory factor analysis and parallel-analysis. The internal consistencies were calculated not only in the conventional way (e.g. Cronbach’s α) but also in the controlling of the general factor (hierarchical omega, explained common variance). After initial testing, we used Item Response Theory (IRT) to shorten and further refine the instrument, and criterion validity was evaluated by other questionnaires (e.g. Schizotypy Personality Questionnaire – Brief Revised; Interpersonal Reactivity Index). Results: To determine the number of factors that can be applied, parallel-analysis provided a good estimation of the three dimensional structure of MIS in student sample and two dimensions in clinical subjects. However, the reversed worded items caused a method factor that does not appear to be substantively meaningful. Confirmatory factor analysis identified a bifactor solution (general scale and two specific scales: paranormal beliefs and magical reasoning/spirituality) for the MIS in student sample (RMSEA = 0.052, CFI = 0.993, TLI = 0.990), and a unidimensional factor structure in clinical sample (RMSEA = 0.032, CFI = 0.970, TLI = 0.965). The shortened 15-item version of the MIS has good psychometric properties, but few of the items displayed DIF across gender or type of sample (normative or clinical). Conclusions: Our results confirm that magical ideation can be considered as a single latent psychological variable on clinical sample, and a bifactorial structure in normative sample where the adaptive (magical reasoning/spirituality) and maladaptive (paranormal beliefs) functions separated.

Sports Fans and Magical Thinking: How Supernatural Thinking Connects Fans to Teams

Magical thinking describes beliefs and reasoning processes that defy generally accepted principles of logic and causality. Researchers have identified a link between strength of identification with a favorite sports team and superstition, an expression of magical thinking. Research on fans of fictional narratives has suggested magical thinking more broadly may play a role in being a fan. The authors posed the question, what is the link between sports fanship and two specific types of magical thinking: magical ideation and sympathetic magic? In a survey of 214 adults, relationships between strength of sports fanship and magical ideation, sympathetic magic in a sports context, and sympathetic magic generally were explored. Belief in sympathetic magic with regard to sports figures was found to be prominent among sports fans. In addition, a positive relationship was observed between strength of sports fanship and strength of belief in both sympathetic magic generally and magical ideation. Implications are discussed in terms of recruitment of and marketing to potential and existing fans.

M32. THE NATURE OF THE RELATIONSHIP OF SUICIDALITY WITH SCHIZOTYPY AND PSYCHOSIS EXPERIENCE

Background Meehl portrayed pervasive, chronic suicidality as a key sign of schizotypy. Consistent with this view, positive schizotypy predicts concurrent and future suicidality, is particularly predictive of greater lethality, and is a more potent predictor of suicidality than other psychopathology. Whereas the most prominent explanation for this relationship is that it is spurious, several possible causal connections have not been tested. Also, most existing evidence relates to positive schizotypy and psychosis experience. We describe three studies of the schizotypy – suicidality link. Methods In the first, we tested whether, as Meehl argued, schizotypy is associated with suicide dread. A general population sample (n = 350) of young adults (18 to 24 years) reported on schizotypy and suicidality, including efforts to avert suicide attempts. In univariate analyses, positive, negative, and disorganized components of schizotypy each significantly predicted persistent or frequent suicidal ideation in the past month (ORs from 2.10 to 3.71), history of attempts with intent to die (1.59 to 2.15), fear or dread of the possibility of making an attempt (1.58 to 1.63), and worry about acting on an unwanted impulse to attempt suicide (2.48 to 2.62). In fully-adjusted analyses (controlling for depression, anxiety, stress, and all schizotypy components), positive schizotypy predicted reporting of greater worry about impulsive suicidal behaviour (OR = 1.71, p = .009, 95% CI 1.15 to 2.56). In the second, we tested whether the schizotypy – suicidality link can be understood using contemporary suicide theory. In a random sample of high school pupils (n = 177), schizotypy components predicted classification as an active suicidal ideator (R2 = 0.76, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.95). These effects were accounted by the influences of magical thinking, unusual perceptual experiences, and suspiciousness being mediated in part by perceived burdensomeness, as per the interpersonal theory of suicide. However, direct effects were also observed from social anxiety and magical ideation components of schizotypy. In the third, we modelled latent growth mixtures of suicidality using data from five waves of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. We test how growth in suicidality (from 18 to 38 years) is related to psychosis experience (age 11 years) and schizotypy (age 13 and 15 years). Schizotypy predicted membership of a growth class characterised by chronically death- and suicidal-ideation that, in turn, predicted attempt behaviour. Results See above. Discussion The complexity of the observed links of schizotypy and psychosis experience with suicidality do not lend themselves to being discounted as spurious or due to common underlying causal factors. Research addressing possible causal connections is warranted, as are efforts to identify whether reduction of suicidality may result from interventions targeting features of subclinical psychosis.