Differential Risk: Gender and Racial Differences in the Relationship between Trauma, Discrimination, and Schizotypy.

Traumatic experiences are associated with increased experiences of positive schizotypy. This may be especially important for People of Color, who experience higher rates of trauma and racial discrimination. No study to date has examined how racial disparities in traumatic experiences may impact schizotypy. Furthermore, of the studies that have examined the relationship between trauma and schizotypy, none have examined racial discrimination as a potential moderator. The present study examined if racial discrimination moderates the relationship between trauma and multidimensional (positive, negative, and disorganized) schizotypy. In a sample of 770 college students, we conducted chi-squared analyses, analyses of variance, and stepwise regressions. We found that Black students experienced significantly higher racial discrimination and trauma than Latinx and Asian students. Furthermore, Black and Latinx students experienced significantly more multidimensional schizotypy items than Asian students. Trauma and racial discrimination explained 8 to 23% of the variance in each dimension of schizotypy. Racial discrimination did not moderate the relationships between trauma and multidimensional schizotypy. Our findings suggest that we need to examine risk factors that may prevent recovery from psychotic disorders. Additionally, disorganized schizotypy showed the most robust associations and may be a critical site of intervention.

Measurement invariance of the Personality Inventory for the DSM-5 across U.S. East Asian, Southeast Asian, and White participants.

The Personality Inventory for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), Fifth Edition (PID-5) was developed as a measure of the traits included in the alternative model of personality disorders (AMPD) in Section III of the DSM. The PID-5 is composed of 25 scales measuring each trait in the AMPD across five domains: negative affectivity, detachment, disinhibition, antagonism, and psychoticism. Previous research suggests that there may be important differences in the expression of personality pathology across race and culture, particularly between people with eastern and western cultural heritages. The goal of the current research was to examine the measurement invariance of the PID-5 across these groups. In the current study, 865 young men and women who identified as White, East Asian, or Southeast Asian completed the PID-5 and international personality item pool (IPIP). On the domain level, a multigroup exploratory structural equation model found that the PID-5 had configural and metric invariance, but lacked complete scalar invariance. On an item level, all scales had configural invariance, one lacked metric invariance, and 11 of the 25 scales lacked scalar invariance across race. For the invariant scales, East and Southeast Asians tended to have higher mean scores than White participants. The PID-5 scales had similar relations with IPIP scales across groups. These results suggest that the PID-5 scales are measuring similar constructs across groups on a global, structural level, but that mean scores may represent different levels of latent personality pathology across groups. The PID-5 may be confidently used in these groups, but mean comparisons should be interpreted with caution. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Measurement invariance of commonly used psychosis-screening scales in U.S. Spanish- and English-speaking Hispanic participants.

Two of the most commonly used psychosis screening measures are the Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief (PQ-B) and the Youth Psychosis at Risk Questionnaire-Brief (YPARQ-B). Both scales have considerable support for the reliability and validity of their scores for use with English- and Spanish-speaking participants, with measurement equivalence established across a subset of demographic characteristics. However, measurement invariance has not been examined across several important demographic variables, including native language, language of the scales used with Hispanic participants, education, occupation, income, birth country, and generation status. In the present study, (N = 1,191) measurement invariance was examined for each of these variables across three samples (ns = 505, 714, and 126). The PQ-B total scores and YPARQ-B were found to demonstrate configural and scalar invariance, while PQ-B Distress scores displayed configural, metric, and scalar invariance across most tested demographic variables. Psychosis scores were associated with social determinants of health (SDoH) including major and everyday experiences of discrimination, food insecurity, financial insecurity, acculturation, and ethnic identity. The associations between psychosis and SDoH were mostly consistent across groups. Compared to White-non-Hispanic participants, Hispanic participants had higher scores on all psychosis measures and tended to have higher scores on discrimination, food and housing insecurity, affirmation aspects of ethnic identity, and acculturative stress. Despite differences in psychosis levels, the groups did not differ in history of treatment. Overall, these results provide strong evidence that the PQ-B and YPARQ provide equivalent, nonbiased, valid, and reliable scores in Hispanic and Non-Hispanic participants in both English and Spanish. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Do Attitudes Matter? Evaluating the Influence of Training in CBT-p-Informed Strategies on Attitudes About Working with People Who Experience Psychosis.

Attitudes of mental health providers are an important consideration in training and delivering evidence-based practices. Treatment approaches for individuals who experience schizophrenia consistently endorse the importance of a recovery perspective. At the same time, a review of the literature suggests that the attitudes of many providers and many policies of community health care settings serving individuals who experience schizophrenia, may not align with the recovery perspective. This brief report provides a summary of the program evaluation outcomes of a wide range of mental health providers who participated in a 2-day intensive training to learn strategies informed by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis (CBT-p). This intensive training emphasizes engagement strategies and person-centered approaches inherent in the recovery perspective. Consistent with the aims of the training, participants' attitudes about working with people who experience psychosis appeared to be positively influenced by training.