Context-Processing Deficits in Schizotypal Personality Disorder.

Research suggests that schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) is a part of the spectrum of schizophrenia-related illnesses. This article hypothesizes that a deficit in the representation and maintenance of context is a core cognitive disturbance in schizophrenia and that SPD individuals should demonstrate context-processing deficits. To test this hypothesis, the authors administered 3 versions of their AX-CPT task, designed to assess context processing, to 35 healthy controls and 26 individuals with DSM-IV SPD. They also administered working memory and selective attention tasks. SPD individuals displayed context representation deficits similar to those found in schizophrenia but did not show the same additional deficits in context maintenance. Context processing was strongly associated with working memory and selective attention performance in the SPD individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associations in the Course of Personality Disorders and Axis I Disorders Over Time.

In this study, the authors examined time-varying associations between schizotypal (STPD), borderline (BPD), avoidant (AVPD), or obsessive-compulsive (OCPD) personality disorders and co-occurring Axis I disorders in 544 adult participants from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study. The authors tested predictions of specific longitudinal associations derived from a model of crosscutting psychobiological dimensions (L. J. Siever & K. L. Davis, 1991) with participants with the relevant Axis I disorders. The authors assessed participants at baseline and at 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow-up evaluations. BPD showed significant longitudinal associations with major depressive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. AVPD was significantly associated with anxiety disorders (specifically social phobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder). Two of the four personality disorders under examination (STPD and OCPD) showed little or no association with Axis I disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two-Year Stability and Change of Schizotypal, Borderline, Avoidant, and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorders.

The authors examined the stability of schizotypal (STPD), borderline (BPD), avoidant (AVPD) and obsessive-compulsive (OCPD) personality disorders (PDs) over 2 years of prospective multiwave follow-up. Six hundred thirty-three participants recruited at 4 collaborating sites who met criteria for 1 or more of the 4 PDs or for major depressive disorder (MOD) without PD were assessed with semistructured interviews at baseline, 6, 12, and 24 months. Lifetable survival analyses revealed that the PD groups had slower time to remission than the MDD group. Categorically, PD remission rates range from 50% (AVPD) to 61% (STPD) for dropping below diagnostic threshold on a blind 24-month reassessment but range from 23% (STPD) to 38% (OCPD) for a more stringent definition of improvement. Dimensionally, these findings suggest that PDs may be characterized by maladaptive trait constellations that are stable in their structure (individual differences) but can change in severity or expression over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Movement abnormalities and the progression of prodromal symptomatology in adolescents at risk for psychotic disorders.

The link between movement abnormalities and psychotic disorders is presumed to reflect common neural mechanisms that influence both motor functions and vulnerability to psychosis. The prodromal period leading to psychotic disorders represents both a viable point for intervention and a developmental period that, if studied, could shed light on etiology; however, no published studies have examined the temporal progression of this link. A group with high levels of prodromal symptomatology (i.e., adolescents with schizotypal personality disorder [SPD]; n = 42) and both psychiatric controls (with other personality disorders or conduct disorder [OD]; n = 30) and nonpsychiatric controls ([NC]; n = 49) were recruited. Videotapes of structured psychiatric interviews were coded for movement abnormalities by raters blind to participants' diagnostic status, and follow-up assessments were conducted 1 year later. Controlling for psychotropic medications, the authors found that adolescents with SPD exhibited significantly more motor abnormalities in the face and upper body than did OD and NC controls. At baseline, movement abnormalities were positively correlated with the severity of positive, negative, and total prodromal symptoms. Within the SPD group, baseline movement abnormalities predicted symptom severity 1 year later. Movement abnormalities represent an early risk indicator that may be predictive of later symptom severity and potentially of psychosis onset. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context processing in schizotypal personality disorder: Evidence of specificity of impairment to the schizophrenia spectrum.

Working memory abnormalities, which are particularly pronounced on context processing tasks, appear relatively specific to schizophrenia spectrum illnesses compared with other psychotic disorders. However, the specificity of context processing deficits to schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), a prototype of schizophrenia, has not been studied. The authors administered 3 versions of the modified AX Continuous Performance Test and an N-back working memory test to 63 individuals with SPD and 25 with other personality disorders, as well as 42 healthy controls. For the AX Continuous Performance Test standard and degraded versions, there was a significant Trial Type × Delay × Group interaction, as SPDs made significantly more errors reflecting poor maintenance of context and fewer errors reflecting good maintenance of context. SPDs also demonstrated poor performance on the N-back, especially at the 2-back condition. Context processing errors and N-back accuracy scores were related to disorganization symptoms. These findings, which are quite similar to those previously reported in patients with schizophrenia, suggest that context processing deficits are specific to the schizophrenia spectrum and are not a reflection of overall psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Representation of Four Personality Disorders by the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality Dimensional Model of Personality.

This study examined the relationships of the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP) model of personality to 4 targeted personality disorders (PDs) in a large multisite sample of patients. Data were examined from 529 patients, who were assigned 1 of 5 primary diagnoses: borderline, schizotypal, avoidant, and obsessive-compulsive PDs and major depression without PD. Patients were administered the SNAP questionnaire and results were compared among diagnostic groups and between patient groups and nonclinical norms. Results indicated that the dimensions of the model appear to have considerable promise in differentiating normal from abnormal personality, particularly in the propensity of individuals with PDs to manifest negative affects and interpersonal detachment. Furthermore, the model appeared to successfully distinguish specific PDs, a property that represents a particular challenge for dimensional models of personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizotypy and sustained attention: Confirming evidence from an adult community sample.

Sustained attention deficits represent one of the most robust findings in the study of schizophrenia and schizotypy. However, very little is known about the nature of sustained attention performance and schizotypy in the general adult population. The present study assessed sustained attention performance in a large, normative adult community sample (N = 305) with no history of psychosis using the Continuous Performance Test-identical pairs version (CPT-IP). Associations between overall CPT-IP performance and schizotypal personality disorder features, controlling for the effects of age, sex, and educational level, revealed diminished sensitivity (d', discriminability), and increased random errors were related to increased reality distortion features. These data, drawn from a general population sample, provided support for overall sustained attention deficits as an endophenotype for schizophrenia liability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gesture behavior in unmedicated schizotypal adolescents.

Schizotypal personality disorder is characterized by interpersonal and verbal communication deficits. Despite the important role of gesture in social communication, no published reports examine the use of gesture by individuals with SPD. In this study, raters code gesture from videotaped interviews of unmedicated adolescents with SPD, other personality disorders, or no Axis II disorder. Results indicate that SPD adolescents show significantly fewer gestures but do not differ from the other groups in overall rate of movement. The findings are discussed in light of brain regions involved in dysfunction, parallels to schizophrenia, and treatment implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Saccuzzo and Schubert.

Reports an error in "Backward Masking as a Measure of Slow Processing in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders" by Dennis P. Saccuzzo and Donald L. Schubert (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1981, Vol. 90, No. 4, 305-312). There are several errors on page 307. The schizotypal personalities met the criteria identified by Spitzer, Endicott, and Gibbon (1979), not those of Spitzer, Endicott, and Robins (1977). The borderline personalities met the criteria identified by Spitzer et al. (1979) for unstable personalities, not those of Spitzer et al. (1977) for borderline personalities. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1981-28173-001.) Three groups of hospitalized adolescents (mean age 15.1 yrs; schizophrenics, schizotypal personalities, and borderline personality adolescent adjustment reactions) with 10 Ss in each group were compared for their ability to identify masked and unmasked stimuli. Results reveal that the schizophrenics required longer minimum exposure durations for criterion identification of unmasked stimuli. Under conditions of visual backward masking, however, schizotypal personalities as well as schizophrenics showed a relative deficit. Results support L. L. Heston's notion that schizophrenia spectrum disorders may be different degrees of expression of the same underlying defect. Previous results with visual backward masking in adults are also extended to adolescents. Findings are consistent with a slow information processing hypothesis for schizophrenia spectrum disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Solitary minds and social capital: Latent inhibition, general intellectual functions and social network size predict creative achievements.

Successful creative accomplishment is influenced by both individual and social factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between these factors in 111 Central-Eastern European volunteers recruited from the community. Individual factors evaluated in this study included IQ, latent inhibition (LI), and schizotypal personality traits. In addition to these measures, the size of the primary social network (relatives and friends who know and personally contact each other) and the broader network (persons to whom Christmas cards are sent) were evaluated. Result revealed that the personality trait unusual experiences significantly predicted real-life creative achievements. However, when LI was taken into consideration, this relationship did not retain significance. Further independent predictors of creativity were IQ and, most importantly, primary but not broader social network size. These results suggest that decreased LI, higher intellect and stronger social support independently facilitate real-life creative accomplishment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)