title: The Cardiff Anomalous Perceptions Scale (CAPS): a new validated measure of anomalous perceptual experience.
abstract: The study describes the Cardiff Anomalous Perceptions Scale (CAPS), a new validated measure of perceptual anomalies. The 32-item CAPS measure is a reliable, self-report scale, which uses neutral language, demonstrates high content validity, and includes subscales that measure distress, intrusiveness, and frequency of anomalous experience. The CAPS was completed by a general population sample of 336 participants and 20 psychotic inpatients. Approximately 11% of the general population sample scored above the mean of the psychotic patient sample, although, as a group, psychotic inpatients scored significantly more than the general population on all CAPS subscales. A principal components analysis of the general population data revealed 3 components: "clinical psychosis" (largely Schneiderian first-rank symptoms), "temporal lobe disturbance" (largely related to temporal lobe epilepsy and related seizure-like disturbances) and "chemosensation" (largely olfactory and gustatory experiences), suggesting that there are multiple contributory factors underlying anomalous perceptual experience and the "psychosis continuum."
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK.
authors.forename: Vaughan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Halligan
authors.forename: Hadyn D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Ellis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires