Brief Report

Associations Between Multiple Dimensions of Schizotypy and Sociodemographic Variables in a Nonpsychiatric Sample of Young Adults

Goulding, Sandra M. MPH^*; McClure-Tone, Erin PhD^†; Compton, Michael T. MD, MPH^*

*Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia; and †Department of Psychology, Graduation School of Arts and Sciences, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia.

Send reprint requests to Michael T. Compton, MD, MPH, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, 49 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive, SE, Room 333, Atlanta, GA 30303. E-mail: [email protected].

The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 197(10):p 786-789, October 2009. | DOI: 10.1097/NMD.0b013e3181b975e6

Abstract

In several prior studies, self-reported schizotypy has been documented to vary by gender, age, race/ethnicity, and measures of social engagement. In this study, undergraduate students participated in an online survey, and data from 825 students were used to examine sociodemographic characteristics and past mental health treatment history as predictors of 6 schizotypy measures. History of mental health treatment was a significant independent predictor of paranoid, cognitive-perceptual, and interpersonal schizotypy; race, relationship status, and mental health treatment history were significant independent predictors of disorganized schizotypy; race was an independent significant predictor of perceptual aberrations; and race and gender were significant independent predictors of social anhedonia. These results suggest that basic demographics, relationship status, and history of mental health treatment may be important variables to consider in studies of schizotypy. Furthermore, differences across studies could be driven by race/ethnicity and cultural factors that may affect the reporting of unusual or distorted perceptions.