Factor versus cluster models of schizotypal traits. I: A comparison of unselected and highly schizotypal samples

• Published in: Schizophrenia research Vol. 52; no. 3; pp. 231 - 239
• Main Authors: Suhr, J.A., Spitznagel, M.B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.12.2001; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Cluster Analysis; Factor analysis; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Midwestern United States; Models, Psychological; Nosology. Terminology. Diagnostic criteria; Personality disorders; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Schizotypal Personality Disorder - psychology; Schizotypy; Techniques and methods; Midwestern United States; Cluster analysis; Schizotypy; Factor analysis; Human; Executive function; Memory; Attention; Nosology; Cognition; Personality disorder; Symptomatology; Schizotypal personality; Social behavior; Negative symptom; Criterion; Dimensional analysis; Classification; Diagnosis; Positive symptom; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0920-9964; 1573-2509
• DOI: 10.1016/S0920-9964(00)00170-5

Factor analytic studies have long supported the division of schizophrenic symptoms into three relatively orthogonal factors: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and disorders of relatedness/disorganization. Similarly, factor analyses of schizotypy often yield three factors: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and social anxiety or disorganization. Recent cluster analyses, however, suggest that not all patients can be simply categorized according to these factors. Cluster analyses of schizotypal symptoms tend to result in clusters of individuals who are low in all factors, high in more than one factor, or high predominantly in one factor. The present study sought to compare factor and cluster models of schizotypal symptoms, as measured by the SPQ, PAS, and MIS, in unselected individuals and highly schizotypal individuals. Consistent with prior research, factor analysis of a large unselected undergraduate sample yielded three factors: “positive”, “negative”, and “disorganized.” Factor analysis of schizotypal undergraduates produced the same three factors, plus a fourth designated “paranoid thinking.” In contrast, cluster analysis of the unselected sample yielded four clusters (“low schizotypy”, “average schizotypy”, and “high schizotypy”, plus “positive/disorganized”). Cluster analysis of the schizotypal subsample produced four clusters: “low schizotypy”, “positive”, “negative” and “high schizotypy.”