The relationship between attachment, sustained attention, lateral bias and schizotypy in a non-clinical sample.

Abstract

Schizotypy is a group of personality traits, which shows predispositions to Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorder along a health-illness continuum. Schizotypal traits therefore exist on a continuum throughout the general population. As a result of schizotypy being so closely linked to schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, studying these traits in a non-clinical population has the potential to gain knowledge into the mechanisms underlying schizotypal traits without the confounding variables which are associated with the clinical status. Previous research has identified associations between adult attachment and schizotypy. More recently research has also found associations between deficits in sustained attention and schizotypy, as well as, associations between a lack of normal pseudoneglect and schizotypy. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between attachment, sustained attention, lateral bias and schizotypy in a single model. Standard multiple regression found that avoidant attachment was a significant predictor of schizotypy. The significance of these findings and future implication are discussed.