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Thomas R. Kwapil

Research Interests: Investigation of schizotypy and schizophrenia from experimental and developmental psychopathology perspectives. These studies focus on developing and testing symptom, trait, cognitive, biobehavioral, and genetic markers of schizophrenia and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. This program of research traces its roots back to Paul Meehl's landmark work on schizophrenia and schizotypy and to the pioneering work on psychosis proneness by the Chapmans. Specifically, this work focuses on identifying individuals who are at risk for developing schizophrenia or related conditions. Current projects involve cross-sectional and longitudinal studies with schizotypic young adults. Assessment of psychopathology in daily life. My laboratory coordinates the UNCG Center for the Assessment of Life Experiences. These studies examine the expression of cognition, affect, personality, and psychopathology in daily life using experience sampling methodology. Investigation of bipolar spectrum psychopathology. These studies focus on the examination of the development and expression of hyperthymia and bipolar-spectrum disorders.

There are 55 included publications by Thomas R. Kwapil :

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
Aberrant Asociality: How Individual Differences in Social Anhedonia Illuminate the Need to Belong 2011 142 The need to belong, a fundamental concept in psychology, organizes a wide range of findings in the study of interpersonal relationships. We suggest that human belongingness needs can be illuminated by examining when they go awry. We review research o...
Abnormalities of the corpus callosum in nonpsychotic children with chromosome 22q11 deletion syndrome 2004 11 Chromosome 22q11 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is associated with elevated rates of schizophrenia and other psychoses in adulthood. Childhood morphologic brain abnormalities are frequently reported, but the significance of these and their relationship ...
Altered Development of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome: An In Vivo Proton Spectroscopy Study 2012 22 Background Chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS), the most common microdeletion in humans, is associated with multiple medical features, almost universal cognitive deficits, and a high risk of schizophrenia. The metabolic basis of the psych...
Anxiety and depression symptoms in psychometrically identified schizotypy 2006 20 The neurodevelopmental vulnerability for schizophrenia appears to be expressed across a dynamic continuum of adjustment referred to as schizotypy. This model suggests that nonpsychotic schizotypic individuals should exhibit mild and transient forms o...
Assessment of Score Dependability of the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales Using Generalizability Analysis 2010 52 To investigate the reliability of the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales, this study applied generalizability analysis with two college student samples who completed the scales at two time points. The results indicated that the Revised Social Anhedonia Scal...
Being with others and feeling happy: Emotional expressivity in everyday life 2012 294 An experience sampling study assessed the relation between psychological functioning in daily life and emotional expressivity as measured by the emotional expressivity scale (EES). Four hundred and twenty-nine participants carried personal digital as...
Brief assessment of schizotypy: Developing short forms of the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales 2011 86 The Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales—the Perceptual Aberration, Magical Ideation, Physical Anhedonia, and Revised Social Anhedonia Scales—have been used extensively since their development in the 1970s and 1980s. Based on psychometric analyses using item ...
Cognitive correlates of a functional COMT polymorphism in children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome 2006 27 Chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is a common microdeletion syndrome associated with a markedly elevated risk of schizophrenia in adulthood. Cognitive impairments such as a low IQ and deficits in attention and executive function are comm...
COMT and anxiety and cognition in children with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome 2010 69 The COMT gene is thought to contribute to the cognitive/psychiatric phenotypes in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. We measured these manifestations against the Val/Met alleles of the COMT gene, in 40 nonpsychotic 22q11DS children. The Val allele was associ...
Deviant olfactory experiences as indicators of risk for psychosis. 1996 17 Developed and tested a rating scale for assessing olfactory experiences of psychotic and psychotic-like deviancy. It was examined whether deviant olfactory experiences in a nonpsychotic sample predict the development of clinical psychosis. 31 college...
The dimensional structure of the Wisconsin schizotypy scales: Factor identification and construct validity. 2008 447 The present study examined the factor structure underlying the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales and the validity of these dimensions. Confirmatory factor analysis with 6137 nonclinical young adults supported a 2-factor model with positive and negative sch...
Discordance in diagnoses and treatment of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome 2011 45 This study examines the rate of utilization of mental health services in children and adolescents with 22q11.2DS relative to their remarkably high rate of psychiatric disorders and behavior problems. Seventy-two children and adolescents with 22q11.2D...
Dissociative Experiences in Hypothetically Psychosis-Prone College Students 2000 29 The relationship between dissociative experiences and psychosis proneness was investigated in a sample of 523 college undergraduates. Participants were administered the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), the Perceptual Aberration Scale, the Magica...
Evidence of gray matter reduction and dysfunction in chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome 2010 52 Chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is associated with cognitive deficits and morphometric brain abnormalities in childhood and a markedly elevated risk of schizophrenia in adolescence/early adulthood. Determining the relationship between ...
Examination of the reliability and factor structure of the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) in a non-clinical sample 2007 86 A self-report screening measure for high functioning autism spectrum disorders is needed for diagnostic screening and research purposes. The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) has been developed for these reasons, although a comprehensive assessment of th...
An Experience-Sampling Study of Depressive Symptoms and Their Social Context 2011 40 Both clinical and subclinical depression are associated with social impairment; however, few studies have examined the impact of social contact in the daily lives of people with depressive symptoms. The current study used the experience-sampling meth...
The expression of adult AD/HD symptoms in daily life: An application of experience sampling methodology. 2008 509 Objective: To use experience sampling method (ESM) to examine the impact of inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive ADHD symptoms on emotional well-being, activities and distress, cognitive impairment, and social functioning assessed in the daily lives...
The Expression of Adult ADHD Symptoms in Daily Life: An Application of Experience Sampling Methodology 2008 630 Objective: To use experience sampling method (ESM) to examine the impact of inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive ADHD symptoms on emotional well-being, activities and distress, cognitive impairment, and social functioning assessed in the daily lives...
The expression of affective temperaments in daily life 2012 142 Background Numerous validation studies have examined the TEMPS-A in both clinical and nonclinical samples. However, the majority of these studies utilized cross-sectional assessments in laboratory or clinical settings. The present study is the first...
The expression of bipolar spectrum psychopathology in daily life 2011 57 Background Bipolar psychopathology has traditionally been defined by categorical diagnoses. However, these disorders may simply reflect the extremes of a broader spectrum of clinical and subclinical bipolar psychopathology. Method The present stud...
The expression of positive and negative schizotypy in daily life: an experience sampling study. 2012 3804 Background. Psychometrically identified positive schizotypy and negative schizotypy are differentially related to psychopathology, personality and social functioning. However, little is known about the experience and expression of schizotypy in daily...
Extralimital triradii as a putative marker of schizotypy 2005 31 Dermatoglyphic anomalies are reported to occur at a higher rate in schizophrenic patients and schizotypic individuals than in the general population, supporting the hypothesis that they are a marker of vulnerability for such conditions. Dermatoglyphi...
Facilitation of word recognition by semantic priming in schizophrenia 1990 41 Schizophrenic (n = 21), bipolar (n = 18), and normal control subjects (n = 21) were compared on a word recognition measure of semantic priming. The task involved the presentation of related, neutral, and unrelated word pairs; the second word (target ...
Factor Invariance of Psychometric Schizotypy in Spanish and American Sample 2011 41 The present study extended recent work examining the factor structure underlying the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales by examining the factor invariance of this structure in Spanish and American nonclinical samples of young adults. A series of confirmator...
The five-factor personality structure of dissociative experiences 2002 63 The relationship between dissociative experiences and the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of Personality was investigated in a sample of 858 college undergraduates. The NEO-PI-R [Costa Jr., P.T., & McCrae, R.R. (1992). The revised NEO personality inventory (...
For Whom the Mind Wanders, and When: An Experience- Sampling Study of Working Memory and Executive Control in Daily Life 2007 1494 An experience-sampling study of 124 under-graduates, pretested on complex memory-span tasks, examined the relation between working memory capacity (WMC) and the experience of mind wandering in daily life. Over 7 days, personal digital assistants sign...
From Environment to Therapy in Psychosis: A Real-World Momentary Assessment Approach 2011 27 The current article discusses how momentary assessment may fundamentally contribute to identifying environmental risk factors and symptom patterns, as well as provide new opportunities for treatment. A new prototype device, the “PsyMate,” was specifi...
The interaction of reinforcement sensitivity and life events in the prediction of anhedonic depression and mixed anxiety-depression symptoms 2007 33 This study examined the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST), life stress, and internalizing symptoms. Generally, low sensitivity of the behavioral approach system (BAS) predicts depression whereas high sensitivity of the behav...
A longitudinal study of drug and alcohol use by psychosis-prone and impulsive-nonconforming individuals. 1996 58 The rates of substance use and abuse are higher among psychotic patients and antisocial individuals than in the general population. In a 10-year longitudinal study, psychosis-prone individuals identified by the Perceptual Aberration (L. J. Chapman, J...
A Longitudinal Study of High Scorers on the Hypomanic Personality Scale 2000 48 Former college students (n = 36) identified by high scores on the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HYP; Eckblad & Chapman, 1986) were compared with control participants (n = 31) at a 13-year follow-up assessment. As hypothesized, the HYP group reported m...
Looking for bipolar spectrum psychopathology: identification and expression in daily life 2012 218 Objectives Current clinical and epidemiological research provides support for a continuum of bipolar psychopathology: a bipolar spectrum that ranges from subclinical manifestations to full-blown bipolar disorders. Examining subthreshold bipolar symp...
Magical ideation and social anhedonia as predictors of psychosis proneness: A partial replication. 1997 112 The authors compared college students identified by high scores on the Magical Ideation Scale (M. Eckblad & L. J. Chapman, 1983) and the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (MagSoc; n = 28; M. Eckblad, L. J. Chapman, J. P. Chapman, & M. Mishlove, 1982) wi...
Momentary Assessment Research in Psychosis 2009 86 There is an expanding interest to study psychosis in the realm of daily life. The study of the person in the context of daily life may provide a powerful addition to more conventional and cross-sectional research strategies in the study of psychosis....
Monaural and binaural story recall by schizophrenic subjects. 1993 39 P. Green and other investigators have reported that schizophrenic Ss have poorer recall of stories presented to both ears than to the single best ear (binaural deficit) and poorer recall of stories presented to the left ear than to the right ear (mon...
Neurological soft signs in psychometrically identified schizotypy 2009 38 Patients with schizophrenia often exhibit structural brain abnormalities, as well as neurological soft signs (NSS), consistent with its conceptualization as a neurodevelopmental disorder. NSS are mild, presumably nonlocalizing, neurological impairmen...
The Psychometric Detection of Schizotypy : Do Putative Schizotypy Indicators Identify the Same Latent Class? 2004 50 The authors examined whether three indicators of Schizotypy, the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (RSAS), Magical Ideation Scale (MIS), and Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS), identify a common latent class or taxon as conceptualized by P. E. Meehl (196...
Psychometric Properties and Concurrent Validity of the Schizotypal Ambivalence Scale 2002 45 The Schizotypal Ambivalence Scale (SAS) is a 19-item revision of the Intense Ambivalence Scale, which was designed to identify ambivalence described by Meehl as characteristic of schizotypy and schizophrenia. The present study examined the psychometr...
Psychometric properties and validity of short forms of the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales in two large samples 2012 258 The Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales (WSS) have been widely used in the study of clinical and non-clinical samples. However, researchers often find the length of the scales prohibitive. The present study examined the reliability and validity of recently d...
Psychometric Properties of the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales in an Undergraduate Sample: Classical Test Theory, Item Response Theory, and Differential Item Functioning 2011 121 The Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales are widely used for assessing schizotypy in nonclinical and clinical samples. However, they were developed using classical test theory (CTT) and have not had their psychometric properties examined with more sophisticat...
Putatively psychosis-prone subjects 10 years later 1994 215 The predictive validities of several indicators of psychosis proneness were evaluated in a 10-yr longitudinal study (N = 508). As hypothesized, high scorers on the Perceptual Aberration Scale, Magical Ideation Scale, or both (n = 182), especially tho...
The Relationship of Asperger’s Characteristics and Schizotypal Personality Traits in a Non-clinical Adult Sample 2006 215 The study examines the relationship between Asperger’s Disorder (AD) and Schizotypal Personality Disorder (SPD), mutually exclusive but similar diagnoses [DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association (2000).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental ...
The relationship of social anxiety and social anhedonia to psychometrically identified schizotypy. 2008 1041 Schizotypy and schizophrenia involve social disinterest (anhedonia) and social anxiety. To clarify the role of social dysfunction in schizotypy, this study examined the relationship of social anxiety and social anhedonia in 364 young adults. As hypot...
Schizophrenic-like neurocognitive deficits in children and adolescents with 22q11 deletion syndrome 2007 18 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS) is the most common genetic microdeletion syndrome affecting humans. The syndrome is associated with general cognitive impairments and specific deficits in visual-spatial ability, non-verbal reasoning, and planning ...
The Schizotypal Ambivalence Scale as a Marker of Schizotypy 2008 41 The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Schizotypal Ambivalence Scale (SAS) in a sample of 1798 young adults. The study also investigated the concurrent validity of the measure for identifying schizophrenic-like symptoms in a sa...
Slowness and the preceding preparatory interval effect in schizophrenia 1993 35 Measured the reaction times (RTs) of 25 schizophrenic (SCZ), 69 matched normal, and 14 bipolar Ss to a tone preceded by a preparatory interval (PI) of varying length. RTs increase when the PI for the immediately preceding trial (PPI) is longer than t...
Smooth pursuit eye tracking and visual fixation in psychosis-prone individuals 2002 17 Subjects identified by Perceptual Aberration-Magical Ideation (Per-Mag) scores (n=97), Social Anhedonia (SocAnh) scores (n=45), and Physical Anhedonia (PhysAnh) scores (n=31) as well as normal controls (n=94), underwent psychophysiological and clinic...
Social anhedonia as a predictor of the development of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. 1998 35 College undergraduates (n = 34) identified by deviant scores (at least 1.96 SD above the mean) on the Revised Social Anhedonia (SocAnh) Scale (M. Eckblad, L. J. Chapman, J. P. Chapman, & M. Mishlove, 1982) were compared with control participants (n =...
The social world of the socially anhedonic: Exploring the daily ecology of asociality. 2009 587 The need to belong is fundamental to human motivation. The significance of needs for relatedness and intimacy can be highlighted by examining aberrations in these needs. Social anhedonia, a component of the schizophrenia spectrum, represents a lack o...
Socioeconomic Status and Psychological Function in Children with Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome: Implications for Genetic Counseling 2010 59 The purpose of this study is to examine the association between parental socio-economic status (SES) and childhood neurocognition and behavior in children with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS). Although undoubtedly, the deletion of gene...
A Ten-Year Longitudinal Study of Intense Ambivalence as a Predictor of Risk for Psychopathology 2000 34 The predictive validity of the Intense Ambivalence Scale was examined in a 10-year longitudinal study of 362 psychometrically identified psychosis-prone and control participants. Elevated scores on the Intense Ambivalence Scale predicted psychotic-li...
Three Studies on Self-Report Scales to Detect Bipolar Disorder 2011 310 Background-This study investigated the usefulness of self-report scales for detecting bipolar disorder in several settings. Methods-Study 1 developed a short form of the Hypomanic Personality Scale (the HPS-6) based on clinic/community and undergrad...
Tracking the train of thought from the laboratory into everyday life: An experience-sampling study of mind wandering across controlled and ecological contexts 2009 480 In an experience-sampling study that bridged laboratory, ecological, and individual-differences approaches to mind-wandering research, 72 subjects completed an executive-control task with periodic thought probes (reported by McVay & Kane, 2009) and t...
Validity and Usefulness of the Wisconsin Manual for Assessing Psychotic-like Experiences 1999 18 Reviews the development, validity, and potential uses of the Wisconsin Manual for Assessing Psychotic-like Experiences (WMAPE; L. J. Chapman and J. P. Chapman, 1980), and provides an interview schedule for collecting information required to make the ...
When the Need to Belong Goes Wrong: The Expression of Social Anhedonia and Social Anxiety in Daily Life 2007 4 Baumeister and Leary (1995) proposed that people possess an innate “need to belong” that drives social interactions. Aberrations in the need to belong, such as social anhedonia and anxiety, provide a point of entry for examining this need. The curren...
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test deficits in schizotypic individuals 1999 59 The present study investigates executive functioning in schizotypic college students and control subjects using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Inhibitory control and working memory, two aspects of executive functioning, were examined in devi...