Smoking rates in schizotypic individuals are shown to be elevated, as in patients with schizophrenia, although findings on the association of smoking with different symptomatology of schizotypy have been mixed. Moreover, possible moderating effects of schizotypy on the relationship between smoking and cognition have not been well documented.

The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) and the full version of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) were administered to 501 healthy adults. Subjects were divided into smokers (n = 85) and non-smokers (n = 416) based on the presence/absence of current smoking.

The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) on the three factor scores as well as the total score of the SPQ, controlling for age and gender, revealed that cognitive-perceptual factor was significantly associated with an increased rate of smoking (P = 0.048). The ANCOVA on the WMS-R indices, with smoking group as a fixed factor and age, gender and total SPQ score as covariates, revealed that the schizotypy-by-smoking interaction was significant for attention/working memory (P = 0.029).

Positive schizotypy may be associated with more smoking. Schizotypy and smoking could interact with each other to negatively affect attention/working memory.

To analyze the interface between borderline personality disorder (BPD) and bipolarity in depressed patients comorbid with BPD.

As part of National Multi-site Study of 493 consecutive DSM-IV major depressive patients evaluated in at least two semi-structured interviews 1 month apart, 19 (3.9%) had comorbid BPD (BPD+), whereas 474 (96.1%) did not manifest this comorbidity (BPD−).

Compared to BPD (−), BPD (+) patients displayed higher rates of bipolar (BP) disorders and temperaments, an earlier age at onset with a family history of affective illness, more comorbidity, more stressors before the first episode which was more often depressive or mixed, as well as a greater number and severity of affective episodes.

The hypothesis which fitted at best our findings was to consider BPD as a contributory factor in the development of BP disorder, which could have favoured the progression from unipolar major depression to BP disorder. We could not however exclude that some features of BP disorder may have contributed to the development of BPD.

Schizotypal features indicate proneness to psychosis in the general population. It is also possible that they increase transition to psychosis (TTP) among clinical high-risk patients (CHR). Our aim was to investigate whether schizotypal features predict TTP in CHR patients.

In the EPOS (European Prediction of Psychosis Study) project, 245 young help-seeking CHR patients were prospectively followed for 18 months and their TTP was identified. At baseline, subjects were assessed with the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Associations between SPQ items and its subscales with the TTP were analysed in Cox regression analysis.

The SPQ subscales and items describing ideas of reference and lack of close interpersonal relationships were found to correlate significantly with TTP. The co-occurrence of these features doubled the risk of TTP.

Presence of ideas of reference and lack of close interpersonal relations increase the risk of full-blown psychosis among CHR patients. This co-occurrence makes the risk of psychosis very high.

Various studies have reported a positive relationship between child maltreatment and personality disorders (PDs). However, few studies included all DSM-IV PDs and even fewer adjusted for other forms of childhood adversity, e.g. bullying or family problems.

We analyzed questionnaires completed by 512 participants of the ZInEP epidemiology survey, a comprehensive psychiatric survey of the general population in Zurich, Switzerland. Associations between childhood adversity and PDs were analyzed bivariately via simple regression analyses and multivariately via multiple path analysis.

The bivariate analyses revealed that all PD dimensions were significantly related to various forms of family and school problems as well as child abuse. In contrast, according to the multivariate analysis only school problems and emotional abuse were associated with various PDs. Poverty was uniquely associated with schizotypal PD, conflicts with parents with obsessive-compulsive PD, physical abuse with antisocial PD, and physical neglect with narcissistic PD. Sexual abuse was statistically significantly associated with schizotypal and borderline PD, but corresponding effect sizes were small.

Childhood adversity has a serious impact on PDs. Bullying and violence in schools and emotional abuse appear to be more salient markers of general personality pathology than other forms of childhood adversity. Associations with sexual abuse were negligible when adjusted for other forms of adversity.

To study, whether temperament and character remain stable over time and whether they differ between patients with and without personality disorder (PD) and between patients with specific PDs.

Patients with (n = 225) or without (n = 285) PD from Jorvi Bipolar Study, Vantaa Depression Study (VDS) and Vantaa Primary Care Depression Study were interviewed at baseline and at 18 months, and in the VDS also at 5 years. A general population comparison group (n = 264) was surveyed by mail.

Compared with non-PD patients, PD patients scored lower on self-directedness and cooperativeness. Cluster B and C PDs associated with high Novelty Seeking and Harm Avoidance, respectively. In logistic regression models, sensitivity and specificity of Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) dimensions for presence of any PD were 53% and 75%, and for specific PDs from 11% to 41% and from 92% to 100%, respectively. The 18-month test-retest correlations of TCI-R dimensions ranged from 0.58 to 0.82.

Medium-term temporal stability of TCI in a clinical population appears good. Character scores differ markedly between PD and non-PD patients, whereas temperament scores differ only somewhat between the specific PDs. However, the TCI dimensions capture only a portion of the differences between PD and non-PD patients.

Repetitive checking in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) would serve to relieve obsession-related anxiety and/or to compensate memory deficit, but experimental literature on this subject is inconsistent. The main objective is to test the influence of obsession-related anxiety and memory on repetitive checking in OCD.

Twenty-three OCD checkers, 17 OCD non-checkers and 41 controls performed a delayed-matching-to-sample task with an unrestricted checking option. Some stimuli were obsession-related in order to measure the influence of anxiety on checking. A version of the task without checking possibility was used to assess memory abilities.

OCD checkers had similar memory performances but checked more than the other groups when presented with non-anxiogenic stimuli. Level of anxiety associated to the stimulus did not influence the number of checks.

Increased checking in OCD checkers, being independent of memory abilities and primary obsession-related anxiety, would, therefore, be closer to an automated behaviour than a coping strategy.

The aim was to assess whether experiences of war trauma remain directly associated with suicidality in war affected communities when other risk factors are considered.

In the main sample 3313 participants from former Yugoslavia who experienced war trauma were recruited using a random sampling in five Balkan countries. In the second sample 854 refugees from former Yugoslavia recruited through registers and networking in three Western European countries. Sociodemographic and data on trauma exposure, psychiatric diagnoses and level of suicidality were assessed.

In the main sample 113 participants (3.4%) had high suicidality, which was associated with number of potentially traumatic war experiences (odds ratio 1.1) and war related imprisonment (odds ratio 3) once all measured risk factors were considered. These associations were confirmed in the refugee sample with a higher suicidality rate (10.2%).

Number of potentially traumatic war experiences, in particular imprisonment, may be considered as a relevant risk factor for suicidality in people affected by war.