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Psychotic-like experiences in the general community: the correlates of CIDI psychosis screen items in an Australian sample

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2005

JAMES SCOTT ,
DAVID CHANT ,
GAVIN ANDREWS  and
JOHN McGRATH
JAMES SCOTT
Affiliation:
Mater Child & Youth Mental Health Service, Mater Children's Hospital, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
DAVID CHANT
Affiliation:
Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, The Park Centre for Mental Health, Wacol, Queensland, Australia Department of Psychiatry, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
GAVIN ANDREWS
Affiliation:
Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety and Depression (CRUfAD), School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
JOHN McGRATH
Affiliation:
Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, The Park Centre for Mental Health, Wacol, Queensland, Australia Department of Psychiatry, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
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Abstract

Background. Apart from individuals with clinical psychosis, community surveys have shown that many otherwise well individuals endorse items designed to identify psychosis. The aim of this study was to characterize the demographic correlates of individuals who endorse psychosis screening items in a large general community sample.

Method. The National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing interviewed 10641 individuals living in private dwellings in Australia. As part of a diagnostic interview (the CIDI), respondents were asked between three and six items originally designed to screen for potential psychosis. We examined the impact of selected demographic variables on endorsement of these items including sex, age, marital status, migrant status, urban/rural status, employment, education, and socio-economic status.

Results. An estimated 11·7% of the Australian population endorsed at least one psychosis-screening item. Significantly higher endorsement was associated with younger age, migrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds, those who had never married or who were divorced/separated or unemployed, those living in urban regions and those from the lowest socio-economic levels.

Conclusions. Many of the correlates of endorsement of psychosis-screen items are also associated with psychosis. Unravelling the factors that contribute to this broader non-clinical phenotype will aid our understanding of psychosis.

Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , February 2006 , pp. 231 - 238
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press

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