title: Measurement invariance of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief across gender and age.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the dimensional structure and measurement invariance of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief (SPQ-B) (Raine and Benishay, 1995) across sex and age in a representative sample of nonclinical adolescents and young adults. The sample consisted of 1789 adolescents and young adults (42.1% males), with a mean age of 17.1years (S.D.=2.9). The results indicated that the Likert version of the SPQ-B showed adequate psychometric properties (α total score 0.89). The schizotypal personality models that presented the best fit indices were Raine et al.'s (1994) three-factor model and Stefanis et al.'s (2004) four-factor model. In addition, the results support the measurement invariance of the SPQ-B across sex and age. When the latent means of the schizotypal dimensions were compared across sex and age, statistically significant differences were found. Consistent with previous literature, schizotypal personality is a multidimensional construct whose structure appears invariant across sex and age. Future studies should examine the invariance of schizotypal personality across cultures, as well as using the SPQ-B as a screening method in the general population to detect individuals at risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, given its rapid and easy administration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fonseca-Pedrero
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paino
authors.forename: Serafín
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lemos-Giráldez
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sierra-Baigrie
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muñiz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult