Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) scale in a non-clinical Turkish sample.
Method: In a non-clinical sample of 453 inpiduals, CAPE -a 42-item self-report instrument- was applied to evaluate the positive, negative and depressive characteristics of psychotic experiences. Symptom Assessment-45 (SA-45) and Automatic Thought Questionnaire (ATQ) were used to assess criterion-related validity. In order to evaluate the discriminant validity, which SA-45 subscales best explain the subscales of CAPE was analyzed. Explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis was performed to understand the dimensions of the instrument.
Results: Internal consistency analysis indicated that the instrument has a good reliability with Cronbach Alpha coefficient 0.91. CAPE was found to be significantly and positively correlated with SA-45 and ATQ (p<0.01). The factor structure demonstrated a four-factor dimension for positive, a two factor-dimension for negative, and one factor dimension for depression subscales.
Conclusion: The results of the study indicated that CAPE is a reliable and valid instrument to assess the psychotic like experiences in Turkish non-clinical sample.