Quick Identification of the Risk of Psychosis: The Italian Version of the Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief

Abstract

Background:Diagnosing people during the prodromal phase of an incipient psychosis can improve the chance of better outcome. In busy clinical settings, the ideal tool is a brief, easy-to-complete self-report questionnaire.Objective:To test the psychometric properties of the Italian version of one of the most used screening tools for the identification of the risk of psychosis, the Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief (PQ-B).Methods:Cross-sectional design. A convenience sample of college students was enrolled via snowball procedure (n=243; men: 45%). After understanding and signing the consent form, the participants received a booklet containing the following questionnaires: the 21-item Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief (PQ-B); the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the 74-item Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the capacity of the PQ-B to identify individuals at risk of psychosis as independently defined based on the combination of GHQ-12 and SPQ thresholds.Results:The Italian version of the PQ-B revealed good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and adequate convergent and divergent validity. The Youden method retrieved a cut-off = 7 for the PQ-B frequency score and a cut-off = 22 for the PQ-B distress score. Both PQ-B scores had a perfect (99%) negative predictive value.Conclusion:The PQ-B is a promising screening tool in two-stage protocols. The major advantage of the PQ-B is to exclude cases that are unlikely to be at risk of psychosis.

Validation of the Korean Version of the Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief Version in Non-Help-Seeking Individuals

“…The subject recruitment information indicated that Loewy’s study included a large number of subjects referred from the community and primary health care institutions for the evaluation of high-risk groups. Xu’s study, on the other hand, was carried out among general outpatients visiting clinics for various psychological and psychiatric problems, and Preti’s study included general college students [23,26]. It is known that in the diagnosis of groups at high risk for psychosis, enriched samples show a higher prevalence of psychosis high-risk groups compared with non-help-seeking general populations.…”

“…Loewy et al [22] modified the original 92-item PQ to create 21-item and 16-item versions with improved accuracy and efficiency, and these shorter versions show higher specificity and equivalent sensitivity than the earlier version. This study used the PQ-B, an effective and efficient self-report rating scale comprising 21 items for screening individuals to identify those at high risk of psychosis [23]. The respondents were asked to answer “yes” if they had experienced the positive symptoms described in the PQ-B’s 21 questions and “no” if they did not.…”

“…Although they show equivalent sensitivity compared to the PQ, these shortened instruments are known to be more effective screening tools with higher specificity. Among them, the PQ-B has been adapted into English, Chinese and Italian versions, but a Korean version has not yet been developed [23,26]. Therefore, this study describes the development of the Korean version of the PQ-B for the general population aged 10 to 29 years and examines its reliability and validity.…”

Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the 25-Item Hikikomori Questionnaire for Adolescents

“…Healthy individuals may develop psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) as a response to physical isolation and sensory deprivation [ 42 , 43 ]. PLEs such as perceptual disturbances, unusual thinking, suspiciousness, grandiosity, and disorganized communication are prevalent among the general population [ 44 , 45 ], especially among adolescents [ 46 , 47 ]. According to the psychosis proneness persistence–impairment model, PLEs reflect the existence of a “psychosis severity continuum” and are not necessarily associated with the presence of a disorder [ 48 ].…”

Metacognitive Abilities as a Protective Factor for the Occurrence of Psychotic-Like Experiences in a Non-clinical Population

“…(3) Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief This is the Italian version of the Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief (PQ-B) (Preti et al, 2018), which is a yes/no 21-item self-report questionnaire used to assess positive symptoms experienced in the past month in the general population. For each symptom, responders have to rate the level of distress and its related impairment in everyday life, in a range from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with 4 or 5 indicating distress.…”