How to tell a happy from an unhappy schizotype: personality factors and mental health outcomes in individuals with psychotic experiences

Objective: It is unclear why some individuals reporting psychotic experiences have balanced lives while others go on to develop mental health problems. The objective of this study was to test if the personality traits of harm avoidance, self-directedness, and self-transcendence can be used as criteria to differentiate healthy from unhealthy schizotypal individuals. Methods: We interviewed 115 participants who reported a high frequency of psychotic experiences. The instruments used were the Temperament and Character Inventory (140), Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, and the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences. Results: Harm avoidance predicted cognitive disorganization (β = 0.319; t = 2.94), while novelty seeking predicted bipolar disorder (β = 0.136, Exp [β] = 1.146) and impulsive non-conformity (β = 0.322; t = 3.55). Self-directedness predicted an overall decrease in schizotypy, most of all in cognitive disorganization (β = -0.356; t = -2.95) and in impulsive non-conformity (β = -0.313; t = -2.83). Finally, self-transcendence predicted unusual experiences (β = 0.256; t = 2.32). Conclusion: Personality features are important criteria to distinguish between pathology and mental health in individuals presenting high levels of anomalous experiences (AEs). While self-directedness is a protective factor, both harm avoidance and novelty seeking were predictors of negative mental health outcomes. We suggest that the impact of AEs on mental health is moderated by personality factors.

The Biological Rhythms Interview of Assessment in Neuropsychiatry in patients with bipolar disorder: correlation with affective temperaments and schizotypy

Objective: To assess the relationship of biological rhythms, evaluated by the Biological Rhythms Interview of Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (BRIAN), with affective temperaments and schizotypy. Methods: The BRIAN assessment, along with the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego-Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) and the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory for Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE), was administered to 54 patients with remitted bipolar disorder (BD) and 54 healthy control (HC) subjects. Results: The TEMPS-A cyclothymic temperament correlated positively and the hyperthymic temperament correlated negatively with BRIAN scores in both the BD and HC groups, although the correlation was stronger in BD subjects. Depressive temperament was associated with BRIAN scores in BD but not in HC; conversely, the irritable temperament was associated with BRIAN scores in HC, but not in BD. Several positive correlations between BRIAN scores and the schizotypal dimensions of the O-LIFE were observed in both BD and HC subjects, especially with cognitive disorganization and less so with unusual experiences and impulsive nonconformity. A correlation with introversion/anhedonia was found only in BD subjects. Conclusion: Cyclothymic and depressive temperaments predispose to disturbances of biological rhythms in BD, while a hyperthymic temperament can be protective. Similar predispositions were also found for all schizotypal dimensions, mostly for cognitive disorganization.

Causal model in emotional intelligence, schizotypy and psychopathology

To assess the relationship of emotional intelligence, schizotypy and psychopathology. In this descriptive-analytical study 150 normal high school students [94 girls and 56 boys] aged 14 to 17 years [15.5 +/- 0.67] in the educational year 1387-1388 in Shahr-e-Rey, completed schizotypal trait questionnaire [STA], Modified Schutte [Emotional Intelligence] El Scale [MSEIS], and three subtests of Symptom Checklist-90-Revised [SCL-90-R], namely, psychoticism, hostility, and paranoid ideation. Data analysis was done by SPSS 11.5 and LISREL 8.54 using independent t-test U, Mann-Whitney test, and path analysis. Path analysis revealed a causal relationship between El and psycho-pathology [t=-4.03, p<0.05]; as well as a causal relationship between emotion appraisal and magical thinking [r=-2.25, p<0.05], paranoid ideation [t=2.03, p<0.05] and schizotypy [t=-3.39, p<0.05]. An accurate assessment of the relationship between factors revealed that emotion appraisal has a causal effect on schizotypy and psychopathology. Emotion appraisal is the perception and evaluation of the emotional situation in oneself as well as others. In fact, individuals with positive emotion appraisal and evaluation are at lower risk of developing signs of schizotypy and psychopathology

Esquizofrenia: relación entre sintomas negativos y rasgos esquizotipicos de personalidad / Schizophrenia: relation between negative symptoms and schizotypic features of personality

Se estudiaron los síntomas negativos y rasgos de personalidad esquizoide y esquizotípico en 19 pacientes varones esquizofrénicos crónicos. Los hallasgos demuestran una relación directa entre síntomas negativos y rasgos esquizotípicos de personalidad. Se plantea que los síntomas negativos no forman una dimensión unitária y que algunos de ellos forman parte de la personalidad previa del enfermo.