A Cross-National Investigation of Hallucination-Like Experiences in 10 Countries: The E-CLECTIC Study

Hallucination-like experiences (HLEs) are typically defined as sensory perceptions in the absence of external stimuli. Multidimensional tools, able to assess different facets of HLEs, are helpful for a better characterization of hallucination proneness and to investigate the cross-national variation in the frequencies of HLEs. The current study set out to establish the validity, factor structure, and measurement invariance of the Launay-Slade Hallucinations Scale-Extended (LSHS-E), a tool to assess HLEs. A total of 4419 respondents from 10 countries were enrolled. Network analyses between the LSHS-E and the 3 dimensions of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) were performed to assess convergent and divergent validity of the LSHS-E. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test its measurement invariance. The best fit was a 4-factor model, which proved invariant by country and clinical status, indicating cross-national stability of the hallucination-proneness construct. Among the different components of hallucination-proneness, auditory-visual HLEs had the strongest association with the positive dimension of the CAPE, compared with the depression and negative dimensions. Participants who reported a diagnosis of a mental disorder scored higher on the 4 LSHS-E factors. Small effect size differences by country were found in the scores of the 4 LSHS-E factors even after taking into account the role of socio-demographic and clinical variables. Due to its good psychometric properties, the LSHS-E is a strong candidate tool for large investigations of HLEs.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/12915

Citation

Siddi, S., Ochoa, S., Laroi, F., Cella, M., Raballo, A., Saldivia, S., Quijada, Y., Laloyaux, J., Rocha, N. B., Lincoln, T. M., Schlier, B., Ntouros, E., Bozikas, V. P., Gawęda, Ł., Machado, S., Nardi, A. E., Rodante, D., Deshpande, S. N., Haro, J. M., & Preti, A. (2019). A cross-national investigation of hallucination-like experiences in 10 countries: The E-CLECTIC study. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 45(Supplement_1), S43–S55. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sby156