The assessment of auditory hallucinations and delusions: The reliability and validity of the Turkish version of psychotic symptom rating scales (PSYRATS)

PubMed ID: 27370063Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of PSYRATS Auditory Hallucinations (AHS) and Delusion Scales (DS). Method: A total of 85 inpatients and outpatients who were diagnosed with schizophrenia according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria, were on antipsychotic medication, did not have organic, mental, or physical deficits that would prevent participation in the study, did not exhibit substance or alcohol abuse or dependency, and were aged between 18-65 years were included in the sample. The PSYRATS scales were translated and corrected by the authors. The PSYRATS scales were administered with a one-week interval to 57 patients and test-retest reliability was examined. In order to test concurrent validity, The PANSS was administered to 85 patients and the SAPS to 71 patients. Results: The Cronbach Alpha coefficient was found to be 0.79 for the AHS and 0.80 for the DS. Item-total correlations ranged between 0.59 and 0.98 and between 0.66 and 0.93, respectively. Test-retest reliability ranged between 0.68 and 0.89 for hallucinations and between 0.61 and 0.76 for delusions (p<0.01). A highly significant correlation was found between the PANSS and the SAPS supported concurrent validity (p<0.01). For both scales, a three-factor structure accounted for more than 90% of the variance. The results were supported by original study findings. Conclusion: The PSYRATS Auditory Hallucination and Delusion Scales were found to be reliable and valid measures to assess psychotic symptoms in Turkish patients with schizophrenia

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Two Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy Programs for Schizophrenia: Results of a Short-Term Randomized Control Trial

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of two different cognitive-behavioural therapy programs in patients with schizophrenia and clarify which techniques are more effective on psychotic symptoms. With this purpose, 39 schizophrenia outpatients—assessed by independent assessors using Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms and by researchers using Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scales-were randomly assigned to routine care (RC), RC plus COPE-CBT or RC plus CBT groups. The repeated measures ANOVA results show that there was a significant reduction in the severity and frequency of hallucinations in CBT group and delusions in COPE-CBT group. Both CBT programs were found to be superior to RC group on some measures at post-treatment, as well as 3 months follow-up. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature