Prevalence of Subclinical Psychotic Symptoms in a Normal Nigerian Population, and the Association with Stress and Gender

Clinical and subclinical psychotic symptoms differ quantitatively and lie on a continuum between normality and pathology. This is general supported and is based on prevalence and similarities between symptoms and risk factors, including stress. The vulnerability-stress model assumes that depending on an individual vulnerability threshold and the intensity of evoked stress, psychotic symptoms either regulate themselves or lead to a psychotic episode. There are gender differences in onset and manifestations of the symptoms. The present study is a quantitative assessment of positive, negative and depressive subclinical psychotic symptoms and the association with stress and gender on these symptoms, in a Nigerian population. The study is a replication of a Dutch survey among 829 psychology students, and provides the opportunity to compare psychotic symptoms in both cultures