The relationship between schizotypal ideation and subjective cognition reflects more than just cognitive...

Internet surveys of psychometric schizotypy can usefully explore the relationship between the schizophrenia spectrum and cognition, but significant participant drop-out can be a difficulty. We aimed to identify the aspects of schizotypal thinking associated with self-reported cognitive difficulties with a view to developing a brief index of schizotypy that is maximally sensitive to subjective cognitive complaints.

Two online surveys were launched over two years. One explored schizotypal personality and subjective cognition. The other provided data for principal components analyses. The OLIFE was used in both surveys alongside other more specific measures of schizotypal features and a measure of affect.

Fifteen OLIFE cognitive disorganisation items, seven OLIFE unusual experiences items and three OLIFE introvertive anhedonia items were reliably associated with a range of self-reported cognitive difficulties as measured by the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire. The 25 items of the new Brief Cognitive Schizotypy Index (BCSI) loaded on three factors, labelled Unusual experiences, Affect and Cognition. The BCSI correlated strongly with a propensity to hallucinations scale, a persecutory ideation scale and two other measures of everyday cognition. These correlations survived correction for the role of prevailing negative affect.

Particular aspects of schizotypal ideation, reflecting the full range of such experiences, are related to reports of day-to-day cognitive difficulties. Future work should replicate these findings in a wider sample and explore relationships with objective cognitive measures.