Ethnicity, class and schizotypy.
BACKGROUND
This study investigated whether, similarly to schizophrenia, there is an increased rate of schizotypy among African-Caribbeans in the general population compared with white people in the UK. Since social adversity has been associated with schizophrenia in a number of studies, social class as well as ethnicity was explored. In addition, any differences between the groups in neurotic pathology were investigated.


METHODS
Four groups of 12 participants (African-Caribbean, working-class; African-Caribbean, middle-class; white, middle-class; white, working-class) were interviewed using The Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE), The Peters et al. Delusions Inventory (PDI), The Delusions-Symptoms-State-Inventory (DSSI) and The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).


RESULTS
As predicted, African-Caribbean participants scored higher than the white participants on the PDI. There was a significant interaction between ethnicity and class, with African-Caribbean, working-class participants scoring higher than the other three groups on the PDI as well as on the DSSI. There was an unexpected effect of class, with the middle-classes scoring higher than the working-classes on the O-LIFE category of 'impulsive non-conformity'.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that it is delusional ideation specifically, rather than general schizotypy, that is higher in the African-Caribbean population. However, whether this is a reflection of their social reality or their psychosis proneness is unclear. Furthermore, the results suggest that class is a significant factor in the expression of delusional ideation in African-Caribbeans.
Sharpley
M S
MS
Department of Social Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8RS, UK.
Peters
E R
ER
D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003702:Delusions / Q000208:ethnology; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000208:ethnology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D014900:West Indies / Q000208:ethnology