Psychometric schizotypy predicts psychotic-like, paranoid, and negative symptoms in daily life

Abstract

Positive and negative schizotypy exhibit differential patterns of impairment in social relations, affect, and functioning in daily life. However, studies have not examined the association of schizotypy with real-world expression of psychotic-like, paranoid, and negative symptoms. The present study employed experience-sampling methodology (ESM) to assess positive and negative schizotypy in daily life in a nonclinical sample of 206 Spanish young adults. Participants were prompted randomly 8 times daily for 1 week to complete assessments of their current symptoms and experiences. Positive schizotypy was associated with psychotic-like and paranoid symptoms in daily life. Negative schizotypy was associated with a subset of these symptoms and with negative symptoms in daily life. Momentary stress was associated with psychotic-like and paranoid symptoms, but only for those high in positive schizotypy. Social stress predicted momentary psychotic-like symptoms in both positive and negative schizotypy. Time-lagged analyses indicated that stress at the preceding signal predicted psychotic-like symptoms at the current assessment, but only for individuals high in positive schizotypy. The results are consistent with models linking stress sensitivity with the experience of psychotic symptoms. The findings provide cross-cultural support for the multidimensional model of schizotypy and schizophrenia. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that ESM is an effective method for predicting the experience of psychotic-like symptoms, as well as their precursors, in daily life.