Adaptive and maladaptive features of schizotypy clusters in a community sample

Abstract

Schizotypal personality traits correlate with psychopathology and impaired functional outcome. Yet advantageous aspects of positive schizotypy may exist which could promote resilience and creativity, and several studies have identified a high positive but low negative schizotypy group with some signs of adaptation. The aim of our study was to clarify whether such individuals demonstrate only traits associated with well-being, or they also have traits that predict impairment. Participants (N = 643 students, 71.5% female) completed measures of schizotypy, resilience, self-esteem, self-concept clarity, and absorption. We identified four clusters: an overall low schizotypy, an overall high schizotypy, a disorganised-interpersonal schizotypy and a positive schizotypy cluster. The overall high schizotypy cluster seemed to be the most vulnerable as it was the least resilient and showed widespread maladaptation, whereas the high positive schizotypy cluster had intact self-esteem and high resilience and its elevated absorption may hold the promise for adaptive outcomes such as creativity and positive spirituality. However, the high positive schizotypy cluster lacked self-concept clarity. The results suggest that individuals showing high positive and low negative schizotypy demonstrate features promoting mental well-being to an extent that is higher than in all the other clusters, while their self-concept impairment is similar to that observed in the high and the disorganised-interpersonal schizotypy clusters. Better understanding of these factors could be informative for prevention and treatment of psychosis-spectrum disorders.

Positive schizotypy is associated with amplified mnemonic discrimination and attenuated generalization

“…Specifically, self-concept clarity was negatively associated with positive symptoms of schizophrenia. Additionally, attenuated self-concept clarity has also been found to co-occur with the positive, negative, and disorganized factors of schizotypy [ 54 , 55 ].…”

Ambiguous handedness and visuospatial pseudoneglect in schizotypy in physical and computer-generated virtual environments

“…In schizophrenia spectrum disorders (involving schizotypy), reduced left hemisphere dominance can be found for language, and reduced right hemisphere dominance can be detected for face processing 5 – 10 . This atypical lateralisation induces an unusual cognitive processing style that enhances the odd or, in other cases, a creative view of the physical and social environment 11 – 14 ; moreover, it is associated with lateral hemispherical dopaminergic dysfunction that in exaggerated cases, may be considered as a disposition for manifestation of the main schizotypal dysfunction. It is also linked to neurocognitive specialties 15 such as the inability to express pleasure, impaired body awareness, aberrant salience, and psychotic-like symptoms 16 – 18 that have been found to carry predictive effect on the development of schizophrenia spectrum disorders 19 .…”

“…Nowadays the role of VR is using in work, social media, and gaming in the digital environment is gradually increasing. A large body of evidence indicates that individuals with schizotypal traits have an elevated vulnerability to reality distortions that are frequently associated with problematic internet usage and computer gaming dependencies 3 , 14 , 19 . However, the effect of the VR on the brain's hemispheric functions where the mental construction of reality is taking place in schizotypy is debated.…”

“It’s like feeling and experiencing everything in HD”: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of sensory processing sensitivity.

“…Participants emphasized the importance of personal growth and self-acceptance in helping them understand their high sensitivity and frame it in a positive way, which are well documented concepts in the literature on psychological wellbeing (e.g., Ryff & Singer, 2008). Individuals scoring high on SPS and wellbeing have also described reframing their own internal dialogue as a strategy to enable better wellbeing (Hart & Ingle, 2019), and reframing of potentially distressing experiences has been noted in individuals scoring high on positive schizotypy and better resilience (Farias et al, 2005; Mohr & Claridge, 2015; Polner et al, 2021; Schofield & Claridge, 2007). This suggests that the intensity of SPS is not static and it can change depending on one’s appraisal system and cognitive framework, and that the positive aspects of SPS can be harnessed with appropriate support and development and the negative aspects can be managed and balanced.…”

“…However, the notion of “healthy” schizotypy has been supported in several studies with some dimensions of schizotypy considered to have adaptive advantages and being associated with better life satisfaction, resilience, and creativity (Mohr & Claridge, 2015; Schofield & Claridge, 2007; Simmonds-Moore et al, 2019). Most recently, Polner et al (2021), in a study of 643 students, identified four clusters of schizotypy identified by overall low schizotypy ( N = 392, 61%); overall high schizotypy ( N = 58, 9%); low positive, high disorganized and intermediate interpersonal schizotypy ( N = 131, 20%); and high positive and intermediate disorganized schizotypy, but low interpersonal schizotypy ( N = 62, 10%). When comparing these clusters on measures of resilience, absorption, self-esteem, and self-concept clarity, the positive schizotypy group had the highest resilience score, even when compared with the overall low schizotypy group.…”