The Oxford–Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences short version: Further validation
Introduction
Schizotypy is a latent personality organization that harbours the liability for psychosis in general, and schizophrenia in particular (Lenzenweger, 2010, Meehl, 1990). This is a complex construct that captures the expression of psychosis symptoms and impairment from non-clinical and subclinical levels to full-blown psychosis (Kwapil & Barrantes-Vidal, 2015). Empirical evidence indicates that individuals with high scores on schizotypy measures are at heightened risk for the later development of psychosis (Debbané et al., 2015) and show similar deficit to those found in patient with schizophrenia and individuals at high risk for psychosis (Cohen et al., 2015, Ettinger et al., 2014).
Several measuring instruments have been developed with the aim of detecting the latent vulnerability to psychosis of individuals at-risk for psychosis (Mason, 2015). The Oxford–Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE) (Mason, Claridge, & Jackson, 1995), or its short version (sO-LIFE) (Mason, Linney, & Claridge, 2005), are one of the most well-known measures. The O-LIFE is a tool with 104 items (Yes/No response format) and four subscales empirically derived called: Positive Schizotypy (i.e., Unusual perceptual experiences), Cognitive Disorganisation, Introvertive Anhedonia, and Impulsive Nonconformity. Specifically, its psychometric properties have been analysed previously (Burch et al., 1998, Mason, 1995, Mason, 2015, Mason and Claridge, 2006). Nevertheless, according to Mason et al. (2005), the full scales are arguably cumbersome and a shortened form is preferable particularly when used alongside other instruments. The shortened form aims to measure the same constructs reliably in an efficient manner as possible for use in large scale genetic or screening settings as well as traditional experimental research.
The sO-LIFE is a brief tool composed of 43 items covering the same four subscales. Currently, few studies have tested its psychometric properties (Cella et al., 2013, Lin et al., 2013, Sierro et al., in press). Moreover, from a clinical and psychometric point of view, several limitations have been found: a) lack of factorial consistency and validity of the Impulsive Nonconformity (Lin et al., 2013); b) different methods of estimation to analyse the underlying structure for dichotomous data (e.g., ML, WLSMV); and c) low levels of reliability of the scores (Cella et al., 2013). Previous factorial models tested, using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), have demonstrated that both three- (without Impulsive Nonconformity dimension) and four-factor models fitted well to the data; however, Sierro et al. (in press) comparing both factorial models found that the three-factor solution was superior in terms of goodness-of-fit indices than the four-factor solution.
As has been seen, the internal structure of the sO-LIFE has not been clearly established and there is need for further replication. Likewise, new measurement models, such as bifactor models (Reise, 2012) or Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (ESEM) (Marsh, Morin, Parker, & Kaur, 2014), have yet to be explored in depth. These new measurement models should be conducted in order to advance in the underlying factor structure of this measure of schizotypy as well as in personality assessment. For instance, bifactor models are useful when researchers typically write self-report items to assess a single construct (e.g., schizotypy) and they also recognize that the facets of the construct are diverse and substantively complex (e.g., four schizotypy dimensions). ESEM approach allow us to test less restrictive measurement models than those used in the traditional CFA models, e.g., where all cross-loadings constrained to zero. ESEM relaxes this restriction and factor loadings in all factors are estimated for each item, obtaining parameter estimates, standard errors, and goodness-of-fit indices usually associated with CFA. Consequently, to validly represent the construct, new measurement models need to be tested in this field.
Within this research context, the main goal of the present study was to analyse the dimensional structure and gather new sources of validity evidence of the sO-LIFE scores in a large sample of college students. Deriving from this general goal are the following specific objectives: a) to examine the internal structure of the sO-LIFE scores using CFAs and ESEM approach; b) to test the measurement invariance of the sO-LIFE scores across gender; c) to estimate the internal consistency with Ordinal alpha; and d) to analyse the relationship between sO-LIFE scores with schizotypal traits and hedonic capacity measures. We hypothesized that a four- and three-factor model would be more adequate than the other competing models. Moreover, it is possible that ESEM and bifactor models would show good fit to the data. In addition, we hypothesized that the factor structure of the measure would be equivalent across gender. Finally, it is also hypothesized that sO-LIFE scores would show adequate internal consistency values and associations with measures of schizotypal personality and hedonic capacity would be found.
Section snippets
Participants
The final sample consisted of a total of 1002 university students (268 were males, 26.7%). Participants' mean age was 21.11 years (SD = 3.92), ranging from 17 to 35. Participants were asked if they had a psychological disorder: those who answered affirmatively were removed from the sample. Only 1.1% of the sample reported having a first-degree relative who had been diagnosed with a psychotic disorder or schizophrenia, while 9.5% reported having a first-degree relative with antecedents of another
Descriptive statistics and reliability estimations
Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics for the sO-LIFE, SPQ-BR, and TEPS subscales. As it can be seen, the Ordinal alpha estimations for the sO-LIFE scores ranged between 0.78 and 0.85.
Evidence based on the internal structure of the sO-LIFE scores
Table 2 shows the goodness-of-fit indices for the models tested. As can be seen, the CFA three and four-factor models presented adequate goodness-of-fit indices. Furthermore, both bifactor and ESEM models also fitted well to the data. ESEM three and four-factor models presented the best goodness-of-fit indices
Conclusions
The main goal of this study was to test the dimensional structure and gather new sources of validity evidence of the sO-LIFE scores in a large sample of non-clinical young adults. To this end, we analysed the internal structure of the sO-LIFE. In addition, measuring invariance across gender was tested. We also estimated the reliability of the scores, and studied the relationship with other measures of schizotypal traits and hedonic capacity. The results suggest that the sO-LIFE scores showed
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