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Background: The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) is a 42-item self-report questionnaire that has been developed and validated to measure the dimensions of psychosis in the general population. The CAPE has a three-factor structure with dimensions of positive, negative and depression. Assessing the cross-national equivalence of a questionnaire is an essential prerequisite before pooling data from different countries. In this study, our aim was to investigate the measurement invariance of the CAPE across different countries. Methods: Data were drawn from the European Union Gene-Environment Interaction (EU-GEI) study. Participants (incident cases of psychotic disorder, controls and siblings of cases) were recruited in Brazil, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and UK. To analyse the measurement invariance across these samples, we tested configural invariance (i.e. identical structures of the factors), metric invariance (i.e. equivalence of the factor loadings) and scalar invariance (i.e. equivalence of the thresholds) of the three CAPE dimensions using multigroup categorical confirmatory factor analysis methods. Results: The configural invariance model fits well, providing evidence for identical factorial structure across countries. In comparison with the configural model invariance, the fit indices were very similar in the metric and scalar invariance models, indicating that factor loadings and thresholds did not differ across the six countries. Conclusion: We found that, across six countries, the CAPE showed equivalent factorial structure, factor loadings and thresholds. Thus, differences observed in scores between individuals from different countries should be considered as reflecting different levels of psychosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of the present study was to explore the pattern of associations between cannabis use and dimensions of psychosis in a nonclinical population of female subjects. Method: The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE), a 42-item self-report questionnaire that evolved from the Peters et al. Delusions Inventory [Schizophr. Bull. 25 (1999) 553], was used to measure dimensions of psychosis in a sample of undergraduate female students (n=571). The participants were also asked to complete a self-report questionnaire collecting information on substance use. Results: Three correlated dimensions of positive, negative and depressive experiences were identified using principal components factor analysis. Frequency of cannabis use was independently associated with the intensity of both positive and negative psychotic experiences. No significant association was found between cannabis use and the depressive dimension, or between alcohol use and any of the three positive, negative and depressive dimensions. Conclusion: This cross-sectional study supports the hypothesis that exposure to cannabis may induce the emergence of positive psychotic symptoms in subjects without clinical psychosis, and additionally suggests that cannabis users exhibit greater levels of negative symptoms. Prospective studies are required to explore the direction of causality and the impact of cannabis on the course of psychotic experiences in subjects from the general population. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective. To explore whether baseline memory and executive deficits predicted poor social and clinical outcome over the 2 years following a first admission for psychosis, regardless of categorical diagnosis.Method. Cognitive functioning was assessed in first-admitted subjects with psychosis (n=35) with a neuropsychological battery of tests measuring executive, language and memory functions. Social and clinical outcome were assessed at 6-monthly intervals over a two-year follow-up using multiple sources of information.Results. A dose–response relationship was found between visual and verbal memory performance at first admission and clinical outcome over the 2-year follow-up: the poorer the memory performance, the more likely the risk of presenting with psychotic symptoms and rehospitalization. Poor baseline performance on the WCST executive function predicted better medication adherence. No association was found between cognitive performance and occupational or residential outcome.Conclusion. Cognitive performance was a better predictor of clinical than social outcome in this sample of first-episode patients. The association between cognitive deficits and poor social outcome may be more marked in subjects with chronic psychosis than in first-episode subjects. The finding that cognitive deficits predict better medication adherence is in need of further exploration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Importance: Psychotic disorders contribute significantly to the global disease burden, yet the latest international incidence study of psychotic disorders was conducted in the 1980s., Objectives: To estimate the incidence of psychotic disorders using comparable methods across 17 catchment areas in 6 countries and to examine the variance between catchment areas by putative environmental risk factors., Design, Setting, and Participants: An international multisite incidence study (the European Network of National Schizophrenia Networks Studying Gene-Environment Interactions) was conducted from May 1, 2010, to April 1, 2015, among 2774 individuals from England (2 catchment areas), France (3 catchment areas), Italy (3 catchment areas), the Netherlands (2 catchment areas), Spain (6 catchment areas), and Brazil (1 catchment area) with a first episode of nonorganic psychotic disorders (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision [ICD-10] codes F20-F33) confirmed by the Operational Criteria Checklist. Denominator populations were estimated using official national statistics., Exposures: Age, sex, and racial/ethnic minority status were treated as a priori confounders. Latitude, population density, percentage unemployment, owner-occupied housing, and single-person households were treated as catchment area-level exposures., Main Outcomes and Measures: Incidence of nonorganic psychotic disorders (ICD-10 codes F20-F33), nonaffective psychoses (ICD-10 codes F20-F29), and affective psychoses (ICD-10 codes F30-F33) confirmed by the Operational Criteria Checklist., Results: A total of 2774 patients (1196 women and 1578 men; median age, 30.5 years [interquartile range, 23.0-41.0 years]) with incident cases of psychotic disorders were identified during 12.9 million person-years at risk (crude incidence, 21.4 per 100 000 person-years; 95% CI, 19.4-23.4 per 100 000 person-years). A total of 2183 patients (78.7%) had nonaffective psychotic disorders. After direct standardization for age, sex, and racial/ethnic minority status, an 8-fold variation was seen in the incidence of all psychotic disorders, from 6.0 (95% CI, 3.5-8.6) per 100 000 person-years in Santiago, Spain, to 46.1 (95% CI, 37.3-55.0) per 100 000 person-years in Paris, France. Rates were elevated in racial/ethnic minority groups (incidence rate ratio, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.5-1.7), were highest for men 18 to 24 years of age, and were lower in catchment areas with more owner-occupied homes (incidence rate ratio, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.7-0.8). Similar patterns were observed for nonaffective psychoses; a lower incidence of affective psychoses was associated with higher area-level unemployment (incidence rate ratio, 0.3; 95% CI, 0.2-0.5)., Conclusions and Relevance: This study confirmed marked heterogeneity in risk for psychotic disorders by person and place, including higher rates in younger men, racial/ethnic minorities, and areas characterized by a lower percentage of owner-occupied houses.