124. The multiple dimensions of schizotypy in the biological relatives of schizophrenia patients

Investigators have long sought self-report measures of personality that index genetic risk for schizophrenia. The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ, Raine, 1991) is a self-report measure that assesses the nine major features of schizotypal personality disorder as defined by the DSM. In the current investigation, the SPQ, modified to include validity scales, was administered to 122 non-psychotic first-degree biological relatives of schizophrenia inpatients, as well as to 75 non-psychiatric controls. The relatives endorsed more characteristics of schizotypy on all three factors of the SPQ: Social-Interpersonal (p , .002, Glass9 d 5 .59), Cognitive-Perceptual (p , .02, Glass9 d 5 .46), and Disorganized (p , .05, Glass9 d 5 .34). Social interpersonal deficits, reflected in the overall score and in subscale scores, best differentiated the relatives of schizophrenia patients from healthy controls, indicating that it may be the most important feature associated with genetic vulnerability. A principal components analysis was conducted that yielded three factors, correlating very highly with the three factor solution previously reported. Together, these data demonstrate that a multidimensional paper-and-pencil measure can identify and characterize the long documented schizotypal features in the relatives of schizophrenia patients. Thus, schizotypal characteristics revealed by this method appear to be useful for the further investigation and delineation of the schizophrenia spectrum and for broadening the heritable phenotype of schizophrenia.