Cognitive-perceptual, Interpersonal, and Disorganized Features of Schizotypal Personality

TLDR

Schizotypal personality has traditionally been conceptualized with two underlying factors, but evidence suggests that a three‑factor structure may better explain its traits. The study sought to evaluate five competing factor models of schizotypal personality using confirmatory factor analysis and to recommend future research on all three factors in both clinical and nonclinical samples. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed with LISREL on Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire subscale scores from 822 undergraduates and a 102‑person community replication sample. Results replicated a three‑factor model comprising cognitive‑perceptual, interpersonal, and disorganized factors, showed low intercorrelations between the first two factors and poor fit of a one‑factor model, and suggested that schizophrenia symptom factors may be exaggerated versions of these general‑population factors.

Abstract

While two factors are currently thought to underlie individual differences in schizotypal personality, three factors may best explain schizotypal traits. This study used confirmatory factor analysis to assess five competing models of schizotypal personality in the general population: null model, one-factor model, simple two-factor model, Kendler two-factor model, and three-factor model. The computer program LISREL was used to analyze Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire subscale scores that reflect the nine traits of schizotypal personality. The scores were obtained from (1) a sample of 822 undergraduates and (2) a replication sample of 102 subjects drawn from the community. Results indicate replicable support for a three-factor model reflecting cognitive-perceptual, interpersonal, and disorganized latent factors. Low intercorrelations between the first two factors and the lack of fit by a one-factor model are partially inconsistent with recent notions that a single vulnerability dimension underlies schizotypal personality. It is argued that future investigations should assess the correlates of all three schizotypal factors in clinical and nonclinical samples in addition to the two more traditional factors. It is hypothesized that three factors of schizophrenic symptomatology observed in recent studies may reflect an exaggeration of three analogous factors found in the general population.