Data from: Delusion-proneness displays comorbidity with traits of autistic-spectrum disorders and ADHD

There is an increasing body of evidence suggesting a significant comorbidity between psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism-spectrum disorders (ASD). Recently, research on psychosis-proneness in otherwise healthy individuals has been a promising way to better understand the mechanisms underlying psychosis. As both ADHD and ASD symptoms show a normal distribution in the general population, such trait comorbidity may confound studies on psychosis-proneness. Thus, understanding the extent to which psychosis-proneness relates to ADHD and ASD symptoms in healthy subjects is crucial for studies focusing on at-risk or psychosis-prone populations. In the present paper we tested the robustness of overlap between psychosis-proneness and ADHD/ASD symptoms, by studying correlations between the scores of three commonly-used questionnaires assessing delusion-proneness (Peters’ Delusion Inventory), ADHD tendencies (Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale) and ASD tendencies (Autism Quotient), on a large sample of healthy individuals (n=925) using raw scores, prototypical questions and a factor analysis. The results showed consistently positive correlations between psychosis-proneness and ADHD-, as well as ASD-symptoms. While the effect was weak for ASD, it was moderate for ADHD. The findings support the idea that when investigating psychosis-proneness it is crucial to also take ADHD- and ASD-tendencies into account, in order to conclude that the reported results in a given study are specific to psychosis-proneness. The observed trait correlations also suggest a common pathway in the underlying information processing of these states.

日益增多的研究证据表明，精神分裂症（schizophrenia）等精神障碍与注意缺陷多动障碍（attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder，ADHD）或孤独症谱系障碍（autism-spectrum disorders，ASD）之间存在显著共病现象。近年来，针对健康个体的精神病易感性（psychosis-proneness）研究，为深入解析精神病的潜在发病机制提供了极具前景的研究路径。由于ADHD与ASD症状在普通人群中呈正态分布，这类特质共病可能会干扰针对精神病易感性的研究。因此，明晰健康人群中精神病易感性与ADHD、ASD症状的关联程度，对于关注高危群体或精神病易感群体的研究而言至关重要。本研究针对925名健康个体的大样本，采用原始得分、典型条目及因子分析方法，考察三项常用评定量表的得分间相关性——分别为评估妄想易感性（delusion-proneness）的彼得斯妄想量表（Peters’ Delusion Inventory）、评定ADHD特质的成人ADHD自我报告量表（Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale）以及评估ASD特质的孤独症谱系特质问卷（Autism Quotient），以此验证精神病易感性与ADHD/ASD症状间重叠关联的稳健性。研究结果显示，精神病易感性与ADHD症状、ASD症状之间均存在显著正相关。其中与ASD症状的关联强度较弱，而与ADHD症状的关联强度为中等程度。本研究结果支持如下观点：在开展精神病易感性相关研究时，必须同时纳入ADHD与ASD特质的考量，才能确保特定研究中报告的结果确为精神病易感性所特有。本次观测到的特质相关性，也提示上述特质的潜在信息加工过程存在共同通路。