Confirmatory factor analysis of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire – brief: An alternative models approach

Schizotypy is a multi-dimensional personality construct that is considered to be a cognitive marker for liability to psychotic disorder. The 22-item brief form of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire is one of the most widely used psychometric measures of schizotypal traits and it has been evidenced to aid in the evaluation of psychosis-proneness. Understanding the underlying latent structure of this measure is therefore both theoretically and clinically important. Using confirmatory factor analysis, data from two UK universities (613 undergraduates) were used to estimate the fit of eight competing factor models of schizotypal personality. The fit statistics supported a three-factor model with correlated Cognitive-Perceptual, Interpersonal and Disorganised dimensions. A number of statistical associations were identified between demographic and behavioural variables and each of the schizotypy dimensions. Gender and cannabis use were predictive of variation in the Disorganised dimension, while socioeconomic status was predictive of variation in the Interpersonal dimension.