Revisiting the blurry boundaries of schizophrenia: spectrum disorders in psychometrically identified schizotypes

Certain Personality Disorders (PDs) have been found to be present in the prodromal phase of schizophrenia at a higher rate than other personality disorders. Although schizotypal, paranoid, and schizoid PDs are traditionally viewed as spectra for schizophrenia, research suggests that avoidant PD should be included in this group (e.g., Fogelson et al., 2007). The present study examines whether a sample of psychometrically identified schizotypes (SZT) have higher incidence of schizophrenia-spectrum PDs, as well as more symptoms of these PDs, in general, than does a matched comparison (MC) sample. Eighty-five SZT and 78 MC participants were administered the Personality Disorder Interview for DSM-IV (PDI-IV) to assess PD symptoms and diagnoses. Results indicate that the SZT group evidenced significantly more symptoms of avoidant, schizoid, paranoid, and schizotypal PDs than did the MC group. Further, there were significant differences in the incidence of these PDs between the groups.