Factor mixture analysis of paranoia in young people

Antonio Preti; Davide Massidda; Matteo Cella; Andrea Raballo; Rosanna Scanu; Debora Tronci; Mersia Gabbrielli; Tamara Muratore; Mauro Giovanni Carta; Donatella Rita Petretto

doi:10.1007/s00127-018-1642-7

Factor mixture analysis of paranoia in young people

Antonio Preti, Davide Massidda, Matteo Cella, Andrea Raballo, Rosanna Scanu, Debora Tronci, Mersia Gabbrielli, Tamara Muratore, Mauro Giovanni Carta, Donatella Rita Petretto

Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital , Helsinki, Finland.
Kode srl
Centre for Pain Research, University of Bath, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Department of Anaesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Clinical Health Psychology, University College London, and University College London Hospitals, and Psychology Department, Kings College London.
Psychology and Neuroscience
King's College London
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Children's and Women's Health, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Center of Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatics, University Hospital, University of Cagliari, Italy; Section on Clinical Psychology, Department of Education, Psychology, Philosophy, University of Cagliari, Italy; Genneruxi Medical Center, Cagliari, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Paranoid thoughts are relatively common in the general population and can increase the risk of developing mental health conditions. In this study, we investigate the latent structure of paranoia in a sample of young people.

METHODS: Cross-sectional survey; 243 undergraduate students (males: 44.9%) aged 24.3 years (SD 3.5). The participants completed the Green et al. Paranoid Thought Scales GPTS, a 32-item scale assessing ideas of social reference and persecution; the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the 74-item Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to confirm the two-factor structure of the GPTS. Factor mixture modeling analysis (FMMA) was applied to map the best combination of factors and latent classes of paranoia.

RESULTS: The GPTS showed excellent internal reliability and test-retest stability. Convergent validity was good, with stronger links with measures of ideas of reference and of suspiciousness than with other measures of psychosis-proneness. CFA showed excellent fit for the two-factor solution. FMMA retrieved a three-class solution with 176 subjects (72.5%) assigned to a baseline class, 54 (22.2%) to a "suspicious and mistrustful" class, and 13 (5.3%) to a "paranoid thinking" class. Compared to the baseline class, the other two classes had a higher risk of psychological distress and psychosis-proneness.

CONCLUSIONS: The latent structure of paranoid thinking in young people appears dimensional. Although caution is advised when generalizing from studies on college students, screening for paranoid ideation in young people who complain about psychological distress might prove useful to prevent the development of severe and potentially debilitating conditions.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	355-367
Number of pages	13
Journal	Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Volume	54
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-018-1642-7
Publication status	Published - Mar 2019

Keywords

Adult
Cross-Sectional Studies
Factor Analysis, Statistical
Female
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Mass Screening
Paranoid Disorders/diagnosis
Psychotic Disorders/diagnosis
Reproducibility of Results
Students
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult

Access to Document

10.1007/s00127-018-1642-7

Cite this

@article{de714dde66434e1f8bdc34b6383eb3c2,

title = "Factor mixture analysis of paranoia in young people",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: Paranoid thoughts are relatively common in the general population and can increase the risk of developing mental health conditions. In this study, we investigate the latent structure of paranoia in a sample of young people.METHODS: Cross-sectional survey; 243 undergraduate students (males: 44.9%) aged 24.3 years (SD 3.5). The participants completed the Green et al. Paranoid Thought Scales GPTS, a 32-item scale assessing ideas of social reference and persecution; the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the 74-item Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to confirm the two-factor structure of the GPTS. Factor mixture modeling analysis (FMMA) was applied to map the best combination of factors and latent classes of paranoia.RESULTS: The GPTS showed excellent internal reliability and test-retest stability. Convergent validity was good, with stronger links with measures of ideas of reference and of suspiciousness than with other measures of psychosis-proneness. CFA showed excellent fit for the two-factor solution. FMMA retrieved a three-class solution with 176 subjects (72.5%) assigned to a baseline class, 54 (22.2%) to a {"}suspicious and mistrustful{"} class, and 13 (5.3%) to a {"}paranoid thinking{"} class. Compared to the baseline class, the other two classes had a higher risk of psychological distress and psychosis-proneness.CONCLUSIONS: The latent structure of paranoid thinking in young people appears dimensional. Although caution is advised when generalizing from studies on college students, screening for paranoid ideation in young people who complain about psychological distress might prove useful to prevent the development of severe and potentially debilitating conditions.",

keywords = "Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Mass Screening, Paranoid Disorders/diagnosis, Psychotic Disorders/diagnosis, Reproducibility of Results, Students, Surveys and Questionnaires, Young Adult",

author = "Antonio Preti and Davide Massidda and Matteo Cella and Andrea Raballo and Rosanna Scanu and Debora Tronci and Mersia Gabbrielli and Tamara Muratore and Carta, {Mauro Giovanni} and Petretto, {Donatella Rita}",

year = "2019",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1007/s00127-018-1642-7",

language = "English",

volume = "54",

pages = "355--367",

journal = "Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology",

issn = "0933-7954",

publisher = "Science House",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Factor mixture analysis of paranoia in young people

AU - Preti, Antonio

AU - Massidda, Davide

AU - Cella, Matteo

AU - Raballo, Andrea

AU - Scanu, Rosanna

AU - Tronci, Debora

AU - Gabbrielli, Mersia

AU - Muratore, Tamara

AU - Carta, Mauro Giovanni

AU - Petretto, Donatella Rita

PY - 2019/3

Y1 - 2019/3

N2 - BACKGROUND: Paranoid thoughts are relatively common in the general population and can increase the risk of developing mental health conditions. In this study, we investigate the latent structure of paranoia in a sample of young people.METHODS: Cross-sectional survey; 243 undergraduate students (males: 44.9%) aged 24.3 years (SD 3.5). The participants completed the Green et al. Paranoid Thought Scales GPTS, a 32-item scale assessing ideas of social reference and persecution; the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the 74-item Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to confirm the two-factor structure of the GPTS. Factor mixture modeling analysis (FMMA) was applied to map the best combination of factors and latent classes of paranoia.RESULTS: The GPTS showed excellent internal reliability and test-retest stability. Convergent validity was good, with stronger links with measures of ideas of reference and of suspiciousness than with other measures of psychosis-proneness. CFA showed excellent fit for the two-factor solution. FMMA retrieved a three-class solution with 176 subjects (72.5%) assigned to a baseline class, 54 (22.2%) to a "suspicious and mistrustful" class, and 13 (5.3%) to a "paranoid thinking" class. Compared to the baseline class, the other two classes had a higher risk of psychological distress and psychosis-proneness.CONCLUSIONS: The latent structure of paranoid thinking in young people appears dimensional. Although caution is advised when generalizing from studies on college students, screening for paranoid ideation in young people who complain about psychological distress might prove useful to prevent the development of severe and potentially debilitating conditions.

AB - BACKGROUND: Paranoid thoughts are relatively common in the general population and can increase the risk of developing mental health conditions. In this study, we investigate the latent structure of paranoia in a sample of young people.METHODS: Cross-sectional survey; 243 undergraduate students (males: 44.9%) aged 24.3 years (SD 3.5). The participants completed the Green et al. Paranoid Thought Scales GPTS, a 32-item scale assessing ideas of social reference and persecution; the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the 74-item Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to confirm the two-factor structure of the GPTS. Factor mixture modeling analysis (FMMA) was applied to map the best combination of factors and latent classes of paranoia.RESULTS: The GPTS showed excellent internal reliability and test-retest stability. Convergent validity was good, with stronger links with measures of ideas of reference and of suspiciousness than with other measures of psychosis-proneness. CFA showed excellent fit for the two-factor solution. FMMA retrieved a three-class solution with 176 subjects (72.5%) assigned to a baseline class, 54 (22.2%) to a "suspicious and mistrustful" class, and 13 (5.3%) to a "paranoid thinking" class. Compared to the baseline class, the other two classes had a higher risk of psychological distress and psychosis-proneness.CONCLUSIONS: The latent structure of paranoid thinking in young people appears dimensional. Although caution is advised when generalizing from studies on college students, screening for paranoid ideation in young people who complain about psychological distress might prove useful to prevent the development of severe and potentially debilitating conditions.

KW - Adult

KW - Cross-Sectional Studies

KW - Factor Analysis, Statistical

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Interpersonal Relations

KW - Male

KW - Mass Screening

KW - Paranoid Disorders/diagnosis

KW - Psychotic Disorders/diagnosis

KW - Reproducibility of Results

KW - Students

KW - Surveys and Questionnaires

KW - Young Adult

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85058396285&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s00127-018-1642-7

DO - 10.1007/s00127-018-1642-7

M3 - Article

C2 - 30542959

AN - SCOPUS:85058396285

SN - 0933-7954

VL - 54

SP - 355

EP - 367

JO - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology

JF - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology

IS - 3

ER -

Factor mixture analysis of paranoia in young people

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this