title: Self-reported psychotic symptoms in the general population: correlates in an Iranian urban area.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Psychosis exists in the community as a continuum of severity. Here, we examine the correlates of self-reported psychotic symptoms in an urban catchment area of Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two thousand one hundred and fifty-eight participants (age 18-65 years) residing in southern Tehran (the capital city of Iran) were interviewed using the psychoticism and paranoia dimensions of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) to assess the severity of psychotic symptoms. Other dimensions of the SCL-90-R assessing nonpsychotic symptoms and a sociodemographic questionnaire were also used. Paykel's Interview for Recent Life Events was used to assess stressful life events.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Independent associations were observed between younger age, female gender, stressful life events and dimensions of depression, anxiety, hostility, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and interpersonal sensitivity and psychoticism. Independent associations were also observed for marital problems, unemployment, stressful life events and dimensions of depression, anxiety, hostility, interpersonal sensitivity and phobic anxiety with paranoid ideation. There was also a trend toward an association between higher educational levels and the severity of psychotic symptoms, particularly paranoid ideation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most of the previously accepted correlations for psychotic symptoms in the community were replicated. An unexpected association between paranoia and female gender, and a trend toward higher rates of psychotic symptoms in more educated participants, were in contrast with the studies in developed settings. The insufficient coverage of psychosis-relevant questions from the SCL-90-R for the entire psychotic diagnostic spectrum should be considered a limitation.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Research Center, Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Vandad
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sharifi
authors.forename: Jafar
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bakhshaie
authors.forename: Zeinab
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hatmi
authors.forename: Lida
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Faghih-Nasiri
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sadeghianmehr
authors.forename: Sholeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mirkia
authors.forename: Shadan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Darbooy
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Effatpanah
authors.forename: Seyyed Mehdi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Mirsharifa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003702:Delusions / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D054541:Family Conflict; D005260:Female; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010258:Paranoid Behavior / Q000453:epidemiology; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data