Predicting Depression with Psychopathology and Temperament Traits: The Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort

We studied the concurrent, predictive, and discriminate validity of psychopathology scales (e.g., schizotypal and depressive) and temperament traits for hospitalisations due to major depression. Temperament, perceptual aberration, physical and social anhedonia, Depression Subscale of Symptom Checklist (SCL-D), Hypomanic Personality Scale, Schizoidia Scale, and Bipolar II Scale were completed as part of the 31-year follow-up survey of the prospective Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (n=4941; 2214males). Several of the scales were related to depression. Concurrent depression was especially related to higher perceptual aberration (effect size when compared to controls,d=1.29), subsequent depression to high scores in SCL-D (d=0.48). Physical anhedonia was lower in subjects with subsequent depression than those with other psychiatric disorders (d=−0.33, nonsignificant). Participants with concurrent (d=0.70) and subsequent (d=0.54) depression had high harm avoidance compared to controls, while differences compared to other psychiatric patients were small. Subjects with depression differed from healthy controls in most of the scales. Many of the scales were useful predictors for future hospital treatments, but were not diagnosis-specific. High harm avoidance is a potential indicator for subsequent depression.

Das Eppendorfer Schizophrenie-Inventar (ESI) als methodischer Ansatz in der High-Risk- und Schizotypieforschung

Zusammenfassung. Ergebnisse früherer Untersuchungen geben Anlass zu Zweifeln an der diagnostischen Validität vieler in der Schizotypieforschung eingesetzten psychometrischen Standardverfahren. Das kürzlich vorgelegte Eppendorfer Schizophrenie-Inventar (ESI) erfasst eine Reihe von psychopathologischen Symptomen, die sich in direkten Vergleichen mit anderen klinischen Gruppen wiederholt als besonders charakteristisch für Schizophrenie erwiesen haben. In der vorliegenden Evaluationsstudie sollte die Eignung des ESI für Schizotypiestudien geprüft werden. Dazu wurden N = 57 gesunde Erwachsene mit dem ESI sowie zu Vergleichszwecken mit der Perceptual Aberration Scale, dem Continuous Performance Test und der Span of Apprehension Task untersucht. Es fanden sich hypothesengemäß signifikante Korrelationen zwischen dem ESI und allen eingesetzten Vergleichsverfahren. Diese Befunde stützen die Annahme, dass das ESI schizotypische Persönlichkeitsaspekte bei klinisch unauffälligen Probanden erfasst. Seine Verwendung in High-Risk- und Schizotypiestudien erscheint vielversprechend.

Neuregulin 1 gene and variations in perceptual aberration of schizotypal personality in adolescents

Background. We test the hypothesis that the neuregulin 1 (NRG1) gene at chromosome 8p22-p12, which has been implicated as a susceptibility gene to schizophrenia, is associated with variations in schizotypal personality in non-clinical populations.Method. A randomly selected sample of 905 adolescents were assessed for their personality features using the Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS) and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) and genotyped for three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP8NRG221533, rs3924999, and rs2954041) at the NRG1 gene. Relations between the three genetic variants and continuous schizotypal personality scores were evaluated using ANOVA for single-locus analyses and haplotype trend regression test for multi-locus analyses.Results. Single locus analysis showed that the A allele of rs3924999, a functional polymorphism in exon 2, had the largest effect size and exhibited a prominent allele–dose trend effect for the PAS score. Haplotype analyses using the haplotype trend regression test indicated that the A allele of rs3924999 was mainly responsible for the association with the PAS but not with the SPQ or its three factors, and the magnitude of significance was not strengthened by the combination of this allele with adjacent locus.Conclusions. Our study provides the first evidence for the association of NRG1 with schizotypal personality and indicates a possible role of NRG1 in the genetic etiology of schizophrenia through perceptual aberrations.

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Scales and Paper-And-Pencil Tests Related to Creativity

Pearson correlations for scores on scales of the 1975 version of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire with measures of schizotypy, hypomania, and creative traits are reported for 625 undergraduates. The Psychoticism scores are correlated .30 with Hypomanic traits, .25 with Perceptual Aberration, and .20 with the How Do You Think, a test of attitudes and activities related to creativity. Extraversion is also related to creativity-relevant scores. Results support a broad and nonspecific role for the Psychoticism scale in relation to both creativity and subclinical symptomatology.