The Tunisian Center of Early Intervention in Psychosis, Department of Psychiatry "Ibn Omrane", Razi Hospital, 2010, Manouba, Tunisia.
Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia.
BMC Psychiatry. 2023 Jun 20;23(1):447. doi: 10.1186/s12888-023-04942-2.
The main goal of the present study was to examine the characteristics of schizotypal traits and their correlations with genetic (i.e., family history of mental illness), demographic (i.e., age, sex), environmental (e.g., income, urbanicity, tobacco/alcohol/cannabis use), and psychological (i.e., personal history of mental illness other than psychosis) factors in Tunisian high-school and university students. Our secondary goal was to contribute the literature by examining the factor structure and factorial invariance of the Arabic Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) across sex and age (adolescents [12-18 years] vs. young adults [18-35 years]) groups.
This was a cross-sectional study involving 3166 students: 1160 (36.6%) high-school students (53.0% females, aged 14.9 ± 1.8); and 2006 (63.4%) university students (63.9% females, aged 21.8 ± 2.3). All students were asked to complete a paper-and-pencil self-administered questionnaire containing sociodemographic characteristics as well as the Arabic version of the SPQ.
The total sample yielded total SPQ scores of 24.1 ± 16.6 out of 74. The SPQ yielded good composite reliability as attested by McDonald's omega values ranging from .68 to .80 for all nine subscales. Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicated that fit of the 9-factor model of SPQ scores was acceptable. This model is invariant (at the configural, metric and structural levels) across sex and age. Except for "Odd or eccentric behavior", all schizotypy features were significantly higher among female students compared to males. Multivariable analyses showed that female sex, being a university student, lowest family incomes, tobacco use, and having a personal history of psychiatric illness were significantly associated with higher positive, negative and disorganized schizotypy subscales scores.
Future research still needs to confirm our findings and investigate the contribution of the identified factors in the development of clinical psychosis. We can also conclude that the Arabic SPQ is appropriate for measuring and comparing schizotypy across age and sex in clinical and research settings. These findings are highly relevant and essential for ensuring the clinical utility and applicability of the SPQ in cross-cultural research.
本研究的主要目的是探讨分裂型特质的特征及其与遗传（即精神疾病家族史）、人口统计学（即年龄、性别）、环境（如收入、城市性、烟草/酒精/大麻使用）和心理（即除精神病以外的个人精神病史）因素的关系。在突尼斯的高中生和大学生中。我们的次要目标是通过研究阿拉伯语分裂型人格问卷（SPQ）在性别和年龄（青少年[12-18 岁]与年轻人[18-35 岁]）组中的结构和因素不变性，为文献做出贡献。
这是一项横断面研究，涉及 3166 名学生：1160 名（36.6%）高中生（53.0%女性，年龄 14.9±1.8）；2006 名（63.4%）大学生（63.9%女性，年龄 21.8±2.3）。所有学生都被要求完成一份纸笔自填问卷，内容包括社会人口学特征以及阿拉伯语版的 SPQ。
总样本的 SPQ 总分为 74 分中的 24.1±16.6。SPQ 的综合可靠性很好，麦克唐纳 omega 值在所有九个分量表中范围从.68 到.80。验证性因素分析表明，SPQ 分数的 9 因素模型的拟合度可接受。该模型在性别和年龄上具有不变性（在组态、度量和结构水平上）。除了“古怪或古怪的行为”之外，所有分裂型特质在女生中的得分都明显高于男生。多变量分析表明，女性性别、大学生身份、最低家庭收入、吸烟和个人精神病史与较高的阳性、阴性和紊乱分裂型特质分量表得分显著相关。
未来的研究仍需要证实我们的发现，并研究确定因素对临床精神病发展的贡献。我们还可以得出结论，阿拉伯语 SPQ 适合在临床和研究环境中测量和比较年龄和性别之间的分裂型特质。这些发现具有高度相关性和重要性，有助于确保 SPQ 在跨文化研究中的临床实用性和适用性。
