Núñez D, Arias V, Vogel E, Gómez L
Faculty of Psychology, Universidad de Talca, Chile.
Faculty of Psychology, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain.
Schizophr Res. 2015 Jul;165(2-3):236-42. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2015.04.018. Epub 2015 Apr 30.
Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are prevalent in the general population and are associated with poor mental health and a higher risk of psychiatric disorders. The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences-Positive (CAPE-P15) scale is a self-screening questionnaire to address subclinical positive psychotic symptoms (PPEs) in community contexts. Although its psychometric properties seem to be adequate to screen PLEs, further research is needed to evaluate certain validity aspects, particularly its internal structure and its functioning in different populations.
To uncover the optimal factor structure of the CAPE-P15 scale in adolescents aged 13 to 18 years using factorial analysis methods suitable to manage categorical variables.
A sample of 727 students from six secondary public schools and 245 university students completed the CAPE-P15. The dimensionality of the CAPE-P15 was tested through exploratory structural equation models (ESEMs). Based on the ESEM results, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to contrast two factorial structures that potentially underlie the symptoms described by the scale: a) three correlated factors and b) a hierarchical model composed of a general PLE factor plus three specific factors (persecutory ideation, bizarre experiences, and perceptual abnormalities).
The underlying structure of PLEs assessed by the CAPE-P15 is consistent with both multidimensional and hierarchical solutions. However, the latter show the best fit. Our findings reveal the existence of a strong general factor underlying scale scores. Compared with the specific factors, the general factor explains most of the common variance observed in subjects' responses.
The findings suggest that the factor structure of subthreshold psychotic experiences addressed by the CAPE-P15 can be adequately represented by a general factor and three separable specific traits, supporting the hypothesis according to which there might be a common source underlying PLEs.
类精神病体验（PLEs）在普通人群中普遍存在，且与心理健康状况不佳及精神疾病风险较高相关。社区精神体验评估-阳性（CAPE-P15）量表是一种用于筛查社区环境中亚临床阳性精神病性症状（PPEs）的自评问卷。尽管其心理测量特性似乎足以筛查PLEs，但仍需进一步研究以评估某些效度方面，尤其是其内部结构及其在不同人群中的功能。
使用适合处理分类变量的因子分析方法，揭示13至18岁青少年中CAPE-P15量表的最佳因子结构。
来自六所公立中学的727名学生和245名大学生完成了CAPE-P15量表。通过探索性结构方程模型（ESEM）测试CAPE-P15的维度。基于ESEM结果，我们进行了验证性因子分析（CFA），以对比量表所描述症状可能潜在的两种因子结构：a）三个相关因子；b）一个由一般PLE因子加三个特定因子（被害妄想、怪异体验和感知异常）组成的层次模型。
CAPE-P15评估的PLEs潜在结构与多维和层次解决方案均一致。然而，后者显示出最佳拟合。我们的研究结果揭示了量表得分背后存在一个强大的一般因子。与特定因子相比，一般因子解释了受试者反应中观察到的大部分共同方差。
研究结果表明，CAPE-P15所涉及的阈下精神病性体验的因子结构可以由一个一般因子和三个可分离的特定特质充分表征，支持了PLEs可能存在共同根源的假设。
