The Ego Impairment Index and Schizophrenia: A Validation Study

Abstract

This study is an extension of our work on a new scale, the Ego Impairment Index (EII; Perry & Viglione, 1991). The index is theoretically based on Beres's (1956) model of ego assessment and was empirically developed on a sample of melancholic, depressed outpatients, diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed. [DSM-III]; American Psychiatric Association, 1980). The EII is derived from the Rorschach Inkblot Test and offers a single composite score of ego impairment. This study validates the use of the EII with a heterogeneous sample of schizophrenic patients. In support of the trait-like characteristics of the scale, the EII continues to be expressed as a single factor, with a correlation of .98 when comparing the original factor derived from a melancholic population with this sample of schizophrenic patients. Significant correlations were also found between the EII and other clinical indices, including the Magical Ideation Scale, the Schizophrenia Index, and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Finally, the EII was found to differentiate between a paranoid subgroup and a mixed undifferentiated/disorganized subgroup who theoretically have more ego impairment. These results offer support for the use of the EII as an empirical means of quantitatively and qualitatively assessing thought disorder within a theoretical framework. Further research is needed to understand the application of the EII across different diagnostic groups and its relationship to other indices of psychological disturbance.

Sensorimotor Gating and Thought Disturbance Measured in Close Temporal Proximity in Schizophrenic Patients

“…13,24,31 The second measure was a weighted scaling of strained and disordered cognitive reasoning and is indicative of thought disorder (W SUM 6). 13,24,31 This score is given for responses that involve implausible relationships, autistic logic, and disorganized thought and language. Schizophrenic patients give approximately twice as many of these responses as any other clinical group.…”

“…Expression of these contents, ie, blood, fire, sex, explosion, anatomy, aggression, morbid, food, and x-ray, is highly elevated among clinical groups including schizophrenic patients. 13,24,31 These 3 variables were summed across all responses and then divided by the total number of responses to all 10 Rorschach stimuli.…”

“…In response to the Rorschach stimuli, schizophrenic patients reliably demonstrate an elevation in the number of perceptually inaccurate and thought-disturbed responses and in the expression of contents that are normally repressed. 13 Perry and Braff 12 concluded that there may be a close relationship between how a schizophrenic patient with thought disturbance fails to gate less meaningful exteroceptive stimuli (eg, a startling stimulus) and how he or she responds to potentially more meaningful exteroceptive stimuli (Rorschach cards). Their findings are among a large information-processing literature supporting the hypothesis that impaired information processing in schizophrenic patients may result in thought disturbance.…”

Analysis of Delusional Statements from 15 Japanese Cases of ‘Folie à Deux’

“…Seltzer et al [32] reported that the paranoid schizophrenia group had a signifi cantly better verbal IQ, executive functioning on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and memory for spoken language on the Sentence Repetition Test compared to those of undifferentiated schizophrenia. Auslander et al [33] discriminated nonparanoid schizophrenia from paranoid schizophrenia patients such that nonparanoid patients displayed significantly greater impairment on the Rorschach-Derived Ego Impairment Index compared to their paranoid counterparts, that supported the result of a similar study by Perry et al [34] . The latter studies offer support for the presence of greater ego impairment in nonparanoid schizophrenia than in paranoid schizophrenia.…”

Validity evidence of the Zulliger-CS in older adults with Parkinson’s disease

“…It consists of three cards; each one has a symmetrical and different inkblot. The task of responding to ambiguous stimuli encourages the respondents to use cognitive aspects such as attention, memory, perception, logical analysis, and underlying psychological processes such as feelings, concerns, experiences, and fantasies, which increase the value of this instrument for the evaluation of self-perception and interpersonal relationships (Perry, Viglione, & Braff, 1992).…”