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BackgroundVery little is known about the phenotypic expression of schizotypal traits in individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS). The main purpose was to analyse the factorial structure, internal consistency and temporal stability of schizotypal traits, as well as their associations with prodromal states and clinical psychotic symptoms in adolescents with 22q11DS.MethodThe sample comprised 61 adolescents with 22q11DS (mean = 14.95 years, s.d. = 2.13; n = 24 at follow-up). An age-matched comparison group (n = 61, mean = 15.44 years, s.d. = 1.76) was also included. The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale were used.ResultsAdolescents with 22q11DS scored higher than the control group on the interpersonal dimension and suspiciousness subscale of the SPQ. The analysis of the internal structure of the SPQ in the sample of 22q11DS participants yielded a three-component solution (cognitive–perceptual, interpersonal, and disorganized). In addition, internal consistency coefficients ranged between 0.63 and 0.91. The schizotypal traits were highly stable across a 3.6-year interval, and ranged from 0.50 to 0.63. Self-reported schizotypal traits correlated with interview-based ratings of prodromal states and psychotic symptoms.ConclusionsThese results indicate that the SPQ may be a valid tool to assess schizotypal traits in adolescents with 22q11DS. The identification of a reliable self-report instrument for use in individuals with learning disabilities and at genetic high risk for psychosis could be useful in clinical and research settings. Assessment of schizotypal traits may be used as a distal risk marker and in a close-in strategy in high-risk genetic samples to enhance the possibility of early detection of psychosis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BACKGROUND: Source monitoring consists in identifying the origin of mental events. Recent research suggests that confusions over internally generated mental events may represent a cognitive marker for increased proneness to psychotic symptoms and disorders. We have examined source monitoring for actions in adolescents with the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS), a neurogenetic disease associated with high rates of schizophrenia during adulthood, and expected to observe source monitoring deficits in comparison to IQ-matched and typically developing controls.MethodEighteen adolescents with 22q11DS, 17 adolescents matched for age and IQ, and also 17 adolescents matched for age participated in this study. Our adapted action monitoring paradigm asked subjects to visualize a series of actions in three different conditions: (1) visualize themselves performing the action; (2) visualize the experimenter performing the action; or (3) simply repeat the action statements without visualization of the action performer. RESULTS: The adolescents with 22q11DS performed adequately in terms of recognition (hits), but in comparison to both control groups, they committed more source confusions on correctly recognized items. Further examination revealed that the adolescents were more likely to demonstrate confusions between exterior sources in which the self was not involved. CONCLUSIONS: Source monitoring deficits can be observed in adolescents with 22q11DS, a syndrome putting them at high risk for developing schizophrenia. These deficits are discussed in terms of early cognitive processes associated with genetic risk for schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Externalizing behaviors (EBs) pertain to a diverse set of aggressive, antisocial, and potentially destructive behaviors directed toward the external environment. They range from nonclinical to clinical in severity, associated with opposition, aggression, hyperactivity, or impulsivity, and are considered a risk factor for the emergence of psychopathology later in adulthood. Focusing on community adolescents (N = 102; 49 female and 53 male adolescents; age range 12-19 years), this study aimed to explore the relations between EBs and the cortical thickness of regions of interest as well as to identify possible risk markers that could improve understanding of the EB construct. Using a mixed cross-sectional and prospective design (1-year follow-up), we report specific associations with cortical thickness of the left insular, right orbitofrontal, and left anterior cingulate cortex. Specifically, thinner left insular and right orbitofrontal cortex was associated with higher EBs, and thinner left anterior cingulate cortex predicted less reduction in EBs 1 year later. In addition, further examination of the aggression and rule-breaking subscales of the Youth/Adult Self-Report, used to assess EBs, revealed specific associations with insular subregions. Findings suggest that cortical structure morphology may significantly relate to the expression and maintenance of EBs within the general population of adolescents.

Background: Schizotypal traits are considered a phenotypic-indicator of schizotypy, a latent personality organization reflecting a putative liability for psychosis. To date, no previous study has examined the comparability of factorial structures across samples originating from different countries and cultures. The main goal was to evaluate the factorial structure and reliability of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) scores by amalgamating data from studies conducted in 12 countries and across 21 sites., Method: The overall sample consisted of 27 001 participants (37.5% males, n = 4251 drawn from the general population). The mean age was 22.12 years (s.d. = 6.28, range 16-55 years). The SPQ was used. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Multilevel CFA (ML-CFA) were used to evaluate the factor structure underlying the SPQ scores., Results: At the SPQ item level, the nine factor and second-order factor models showed adequate goodness-of-fit. At the SPQ subscale level, three- and four-factor models displayed better goodness-of-fit indices than other CFA models. ML-CFA showed that the intraclass correlation coefficients values were lower than 0.106. The three-factor model showed adequate goodness of fit indices in multilevel analysis. The ordinal α coefficients were high, ranging from 0.73 to 0.94 across individual samples, and from 0.84 to 0.91 for the combined sample., Conclusions: The results are consistent with the conceptual notion that schizotypal personality is a multifaceted construct and support the validity and utility of SPQ in cross-cultural research. We discuss theoretical and clinical implications of our results for diagnostic systems, psychosis models and cross-national mental health strategies.

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Burns Anxiety Inventory (Burns-A: Burns, 1993). The sample consisted of 417 participants, 387 (29.71% male) healthy participants (control group: M = 35.5 years; SD = 8.40) and 30 (36.66% female) patients (clinical group: M = 35.8 years; SD = 12.94). The internal consistency evaluated through Cronbach' Alpha was 0.95 for the Total Score in both subsamples. The test-retest reliability (two weeks) for Total Score was 0.86 (F = 13.2, p ≤ .001) for the non-clinical subsample, and 0.95 (F = 36.5, p ≤ .001) for the clinical subsample. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the initial three-factor model. However, modifications to the initial three-factor model improved the goodness-of-fit indices. Results showed statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the Burns-A between the clinical and control groups. This study supports the Spanish version of the Burns-A as a brief and useful tool for the screening of anxiety symptoms in adult populations. Future studies should investigate measurement invariance across cultures.

Objective: To investigate scanpath abnormalities during the encoding of static stimuli in schizophrenia and their interaction with visuospatial working memory (VSWM) dysfunction., Methods: Outpatients with schizophrenia and control subjects were asked to encode a static pattern for subsequent recognition after a short delay. We measured the number of correct and incorrect choices. We also assessed the number and the distribution of fixations, the scanning time in specific regions of interest (ROIs) and the head movements during the encoding of the stimuli. The distributions of fixations and scanning time in definite ROIs during the discrimination of the correct pattern from the foils were also measured., Results: Patients recognised fewer correct patterns than controls. Correct trials in patients were characterised by a specific exploration of the central part of the stimulus during its presentation, whereas this feature was absent in incorrect trials. However, the scanning time and the numbers of fixations and head movements during encoding were similar in both groups and unrelated to recognition accuracy. In both groups, correct trials were associated with a selective exploration of the correct pattern amongst the six possibilities during recognition. Furthermore, patients gave more attention to incorrect patterns with a leftmost element identical to that of the correct response and also those approximating its global structure., Conclusion: Patients showed a VSWM deficit independent of oculomotor dysfunctions and head movements during encoding. Patients' correct trials were related to specific scanning during encoding and discrimination phases. Analysis of these patterns suggests that patients try to compensate for reduced VSWM ability by using specific encoding strategies.