# 3/3: Community Psychosis Risk Screening: An Instrument Development Study.

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY · 2020 · $223,482

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The proposed study aims to develop a brief, valid screening questionnaire to identify individuals at risk for
psychosis in non-clinical populations across 3 large, community catchment areas with diverse populations.
This is a needed study, as the current screening tools for at-risk psychotic populations have only been
validated in clinical and/or treatment seeking samples, which likely do not generalize outside of these
specialized settings. The proposed project will administer 3 well-known psychosis risk screeners, as well as
additional symptom-based (e.g., depression, anxiety, etc.) and risk-factor based questionnaires (e.g., cannabis
and other substance use, a family history of major mental disorders, trauma history) to 6,000
adolescents/young adults in local communities across 3 demographically diverse sites (Philadelphia,
Baltimore, and the greater Chicago areas). Based on established cut-off scores from the 3 psychosis
screeners, 1,560 subjects deemed as questionnaire higher risk (n=780; QHR) and questionnaire lower risk
(n=780; QLR) for psychosis (estimated sample sizes based on pilot data) will be invited to complete semi-
structured interviews to determine clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis status based on the Structured
Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (SIPS) and to assess current/past major mental disorders based on
the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5). Based on preliminary data and conservative estimates,
we anticipate that 117 of the QHR group will be considered CHR for psychosis. The specific aims are as
follows: 1) to determine norms and prevalence rates of attenuated positive psychotic symptoms across 3
diverse, community catchment areas and 2) to develop a questionnaire screener, using both symptom-based
and risk factor-based questionnaires, that is validated against the SIPS to identify those at CHR for psychosis
in the community. This is the first study in the U.S. to determine the rate of subthreshold psychotic symptoms
across diverse non-help seeking samples, which is essential for investigations using dimensional approaches
to psychotic disorders. Further, the proposed study will develop an essential screening tool that will identify
which individuals have the greatest need for follow-up with structured interviews in CHR studies or clinical
settings to determine psychosis-risk status. This tool is will be quite valuable given findings that those who
develop psychotic disorders often do not seek treatment until after the onset of the disorder, and that duration
of untreated psychosis is associated with more serious clinical outcomes. The proposed study has the potential
for major contributions to the early detection and prevention of psychotic disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9963376
- **Project number:** 5R01MH112612-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY
- **Principal Investigator:** Steven C Pitts
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $223,482
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9963376

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9963376, 3/3: Community Psychosis Risk Screening: An Instrument Development Study. (5R01MH112612-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9963376. Licensed CC0.

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