Table 1.
Qualitative Comparison of Item Similarities Between the Semi-Structured Clinicians-Rated Psychometric Instruments (CAARMS 12/2006) and the Structured Self-Reported Psychometric Instruments for the assessment of Attenuated Psychotic Symptoms
| CAARMS Version 12/200610 | CAPE-P1515 |
|---|---|
| [Positive symptoms: Unusual thought content] Have you felt that people were trying to give you messages? What is it like? How did it start? | Do you ever feel as if people seem to drop hints about you or say things with a double meaning? |
| [Positive symptoms: Unusual thought content] Do you feel that others, or the world, have changed in some way? | Do you ever feel as if some people are not what they seem to be? |
| [Positive symptoms: Non-bizarre ideas] Has anybody been giving you a hard time or trying to hurt you? | Do you ever feel as if you are being persecuted in some way? |
| [Positive symptoms: Non-bizarre ideas] Has anybody been giving you a hard time or trying to hurt you? | Do you ever feel as if there is a conspiracy against you? |
| [Positive symptoms: Unusual thought content] Have you felt that someone, or something, outside yourself has been controlling your thoughts, feelings, actions or urges? Have you had feelings or impulses that don’t seem to come from yourself? | Do you ever feel as if electrical devices such as computers can influence the way you think? |
| [Positive symptoms: Non-bizarre ideas] Do you feel like people have been talking about you, laughing at you, or watching you? What is it like? How do you know this? | Do you ever feel that people look at you oddly because of your appearance? |
| [Positive symptoms: Unusual thought content] Have you felt that ideas or thoughts are being taken out of your head? How does that happen? | Do you ever feel as if the thoughts in your head are being taken away from you? |
| [Positive symptoms: Unusual thought content] Have you felt that ideas or thoughts that are not your own have been put into your head? How do you know they are not your own? Where do they come from? | Do you ever feel as if the thoughts in your head are not your own? |
| [Positive symptoms: Unusual thought content] Are your thoughts broadcast so that other people know what you are thinking? | Have your thoughts ever been so vivid that you were worried other people would hear them? |
| [Positive symptoms: Perceptual abnormalities] Do you ever hear things that other people seem not to (such as sounds or voices)? | Do you ever hear your own thoughts being echoed back to you? |
| [Positive symptoms: Unusual thought content] Have you felt that someone, or something, outside yourself has been controlling your thoughts, feelings, actions or urges? Have you had feelings or impulses that don’t seem to come from yourself? | Do you ever feel as if you are under the control of some force or power other than yourself? |
| [Positive symptoms: Perceptual abnormalities] Do you ever hear things that may not really be there? Do you ever hear things that other people seem not to (such as sounds or voices)? What do you hear? At the time you hear these things, how real do they seem? Do you realise they are not real at the time, or only later? | Do you ever hear voices when you are alone? |
| Do you ever hear voices talking to each other when you are alone? | |
| [Positive symptoms: Unusual thought content] Do you feel puzzled by anything? Do familiar surroundings feel strange? | Do you ever feel as if a double has taken the place of a family member, friend or acquaintance? |
| [Positive symptoms: Perceptual abnormalities] Do you have visions, or see things that may not really be there? Do you ever see things that others can’t, or don’t seem to? What do you see? At the time that you see these things, how real do they seem? Do you realise they are not real at the time, or only later? | Do you ever see objects, people or animals that other people cannot see? |
Note: CAARMS 12/2006 subscales:
• Positive symptoms: Unusual thought content, Non-bizarre ideas, Perceptual abnormalities, Disorganized speech
• Cognitive change attention/concentration: Subjective experience, Observed cognitive change
• Emotional disturbance: Subjective emotional disturbance, Observed blunted affect, Observed inappropriate affect
• Negative symptoms: Alogia, Avolition/apathy, Anhedonia
• Behavioural change: Social isolation, Impaired role function, Disorganising/odd/stigmatizing behavior, Aggression/dangerous behavior
• Motor/physical changes: Subjective complaints of impaired motor functioning, Informant reported or observed changes in motor functioning, Subjective complaints of impaired bodily sensation, Subjective complaints of impaired autonomic functioning
• General psychopathology: Mania, Depression, Suicidality and self harm, Mood swings/lability, Anxiety, Obsessive compulsive disorder symptoms, Dissociative symptoms, Impaired tolerance to normal stress
Total number of items/questions in the CAARMS 12/2006: 176 (follow-up questions for severity, frequency/duration, distress not accounted). A subset of the items that are matching the CAPE-15 items is reported here.