Formal Thought Disorder in Individuals at Ultra-High Risk for Psychosis: Factor Structure and Associations With Cognitive and Global Functioning

IF 2.2 4区医学 Q3 PSYCHIATRY

Early Intervention in Psychiatry Pub Date : 2025-09-26 DOI:10.1111/eip.70089

Ezgi Ince Guliyev, Melis Ceylan, Cagla Ceren Turkoglu, Handan Noyan, Alp Ucok

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Aim

Formal thought disorder (FTD) reflects an impairment in the organisation, goal-directedness, and logical flow of thinking. It is a core feature of psychosis spectrum disorders encountered in patients ranging from early psychosis to chronic schizophrenia. However, less is known about individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis. This study aimed to examine the frequency and factor structure of FTD in UHR individuals and explore its associations with clinical characteristics.

Methods

FTD was assessed in 122 UHR individuals using relevant items from the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms and the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms. We used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using principal axis factoring to identify factor structures. Associations with clinical characteristics were investigated using two-group comparisons, correlations, and multivariable linear regression models.

Results

EFA revealed a three-factor structure—disorganisation, incoherence, and poverty—accounting for 48.50% of the variance. Only the poverty factor was negatively associated with attention composite scores (β = −0.229; p = 0.040) after correcting for age and education. Total FTD and poverty factor scores were negatively correlated with GAF (r = −0.340 and r = −0.343, respectively; p < 0.001). The ones who had impaired role functioning during the past month at admission had higher scores on the total FTD (U = 878.0; p < 0.001) as well as the poverty factor (U = 1166.0; p = 0.011).

Conclusions

Our findings indicated that FTD in UHR individuals exhibits a three-factor structure, with the poverty factor significantly linked to global and cognitive functioning.

Abstract Image

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精神病超高风险个体的形式思维障碍：因素结构及其与认知和整体功能的关联

目的形式思维障碍（FTD）反映了思维的组织性、目标方向性和逻辑流的损害。从早期精神病到慢性精神分裂症，这是精神病谱系障碍的核心特征。然而，对精神病超高风险（UHR）个体的了解却很少。本研究旨在探讨UHR个体FTD的频率和因素结构，并探讨其与临床特征的关系。方法采用《阴性症状评估量表》和《阳性症状评估量表》的相关项目对122例UHR个体进行FTD评估。我们使用探索性因子分析（EFA），使用主轴因子分析来确定因子结构。使用两组比较、相关性和多变量线性回归模型研究与临床特征的关系。结果EFA揭示了三因素结构-无序，不连贯和贫困-占方差的48.50%。在校正年龄和教育程度后，只有贫困因素与注意综合得分呈负相关（β = - 0.229; p = 0.040）。总FTD和贫困因素得分与GAF呈负相关（r = - 0.340和r = - 0.343; p < 0.001）。在入学前一个月内有角色功能受损的学生在总FTD （U = 878.0; p < 0.001）和贫困因素（U = 1166.0; p = 0.011）上得分较高。我们的研究结果表明，UHR个体的FTD表现出三因素结构，其中贫困因素与全球和认知功能显著相关。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Early Intervention in Psychiatry 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

5.00%

发文量

112

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Early Intervention in Psychiatry publishes original research articles and reviews dealing with the early recognition, diagnosis and treatment across the full range of mental and substance use disorders, as well as the underlying epidemiological, biological, psychological and social mechanisms that influence the onset and early course of these disorders. The journal provides comprehensive coverage of early intervention for the full range of psychiatric disorders and mental health problems, including schizophrenia and other psychoses, mood and anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, eating disorders and personality disorders. Papers in any of the following fields are considered: diagnostic issues, psychopathology, clinical epidemiology, biological mechanisms, treatments and other forms of intervention, clinical trials, health services and economic research and mental health policy. Special features are also published, including hypotheses, controversies and snapshots of innovative service models.