[Schizotypal personality in academia]

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychology

Background:

• Schizotypal personality disorder, or "latent schizophrenia," is a personality disorder on the schizophrenia spectrum.
• It affects approximately 3% of the general population.
• The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) by Raine is a widely used tool for assessing this disorder.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate schizotypal personality traits among students in Marrakech and Safi, Morocco.
• To describe the sociodemographic profile of students exhibiting schizotypal traits.
• To utilize Raine's SPQ for diagnosis and analysis.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective study of first-year students at two Moroccan institutions (Marrakech medical school, Safi College of Technology).
• Anonymous questionnaire including sociodemographic data and Raine's SPQ (74 items, 9 subscales).
• Data collected over a 6-month period starting October 2004.

Main Results:

• The average SPQ score was 25.33 ± 11.77, with thresholds of 10/74 (lower) and 44/74 (upper).
• Males (7.24%) showed higher prevalence than females (3.62%).
• Higher prevalence was observed in students from the College of Technology in Safi (11.6%) compared to Marrakech medical school (6.8%).

Conclusions:

• Schizotypal personality disorder is a risk factor for developing schizophrenia, emphasizing the importance of early detection.
• The average SPQ score and threshold scores in this study align with previous research on student populations.
• No significant relationship was found between schizotypal disorder and illicit drug consumption in this sample.