The SPQ: A Scale for the Assessment of Schizotypal Personality Based on DSM-III-R Criteria

Abstract

Existing self-report measures of schizotypal personality assess only one to three of the nine traits of schizotypal personality disorder. This study describes the development of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), a self-report scale modeled on DSM-III-R criteria for schizotypal personality disorder and containing subscales for all nine schizotypal traits. Two samples of normal subjects (n = 302 and n = 195) were used to test replicability of findings. The SPQ was found to have high sampling validity, high internal reliability (0.91), test-retest reliability (0.82), convergent validity (0.59 to 0.81), discriminant validity, and criterion validity (0.63, 0.68), findings which were replicated across samples. Fifty-five percent of subjects scoring in the top 10 percent of SPQ scores had a clinical diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder. Thus, the SPQ may be useful in screening for schizotypal personality disorder in the general population and also in researching the correlates of individual schizotypal traits.