Basic self-disturbance predicts psychosis onset in the ultra high risk for psychosis "prodromal" population

IntroductionPhenomenological research indicates that disturbance of the basic sense of self may be a core phenotypic marker of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Basic self-disturbance refers to a disruption of the sense of ownership of experience and agency of action and is associated with a variety of anomalous subjective experiences. In this study, we investigated the presence of basic self-disturbance in an "ultra high risk" (UHR) for psychosis sample compared with a healthy control sample and whether it predicted transition to psychotic disorder.MethodsForty-nine UHR patients and 52 matched healthy control participants were recruited to the study. Participants were assessed for basic self-disturbance using the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience (EASE) instrument. UHR participants were followed for a mean of 569 days.ResultsLevels of self-disturbance were significantly higher in the UHR sample compared with the healthy control sample (P