Relationship Between Schizotypal Traits, Emotion Regulation, and Negative Affect in Children: A Network Analysis

Evidence suggests that emotion regulation is related to schizotypal traits and negative affect in adults. Few studies examined the interplay among these constructs in school-aged children. We examined the complex relationship between schizotypal traits, emotion regulation, and negative affect in children aged 9-12 years.

One-thousand-and-nineteen children completed the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-children (SPQ-C), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescence (ERQ-CA). Using subscales of these measures as nodes, we estimated a partial correlation network. We estimated a Directed Acyclic Graph to explore the putative directional relationship between schizotypal traits, emotion regulation, and negative affect. Node and bridge centrality indices were estimated.

We found positive correlations between schizotypal dimensions and negative affect (depressed mood, anxiety, and stress) in the network. Emotion suppression was positively correlated with interpersonal and disorganized schizotypal dimensions, and negative affect. Emotion reappraisal was positively correlated with the cognitive-perceptual dimension and negatively correlated with interpersonal schizotypal traits, depressed mood, and stress. Stress showed higher strength than all nodes except depressed mood, and stress showed the highest expected influence (EI). The Bayesian network revealed that schizotypal traits appeared to be driven by stress. Network comparisons preliminarily showed higher EI for emotion reappraisal in girls' than boys' networks, and significant impacts of age and schizotypy levels on network patterns.

Children with higher levels of schizotypal traits may have more negative affect and suppression. Stress appears to drive schizotypal traits.