Cultural Considerations for Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders Part I: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Prevalence

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a severe psychotic disorder that is characterized by one or more psychotic symptoms in five different symptom domains (hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thought, disorganized behavior, and negative symptoms). Schizophrenia is one of the leading causes of disability in the USA due to the marked functional impairment in psychological, medical, and financial domains. Research over the past two decades has begun to focus on cultural factors in assessment and treatment of schizophrenia. With so much new knowledge emerging, there is an unmet need to review this research for behavioral healthcare providers. Such a review will fill this gap and provide clinicians and researchers with an accessible resource that will inform their practice and research. In this chapter, we begin with a review of the most up-to-date prevalence information, taking into consideration differences in geographic location, age, gender, and ethnic or racial background, in order to help providers draw conclusions about their local base rates considering various cultural factors. We then provide an overview of psychotic symptoms and conclude with a discussion of the DSM-5 Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorder diagnostic criteria. Throughout, we address how cultural factors can be considered by behavioral health specialists in the differential diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)