Typologies of positive psychotic symptoms in methamphetamine dependence

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Understanding methamphetamine associated psychotic (MAP) symptom typologies could aid in identifying individuals at risk of progressing to schizophrenia and guide early intervention. METHODS Latent class analysis (LCA) of psychotic symptoms collected from 40 (n = 40) methamphetamine dependent individuals with a history of psychotic symptoms but no history of a primary psychotic disorder. RESULTS Three typologies were identified. In one, persecutory delusions dominated (Type 1), in another persecutory delusions were accompanied by hallucinations (Type 2), and in the third a high frequency of all the assessed hallucinatory and delusional symptoms was observed (Type 3). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION MAP is a heterogeneous syndrome with positive symptom typologies. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE This study represents the first attempt at identifying typologies of MAP and highlights the potential utility of LCA in future large-scale studies.