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The psychometric properties of the Peters et al. Delusions Inventory (PDI) in Taiwan: reliability, validity, and utility

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Abstract

Purpose

The Peters et al. Delusions Inventory (PDI) is a commonly used instrument to measure delusion proneness in the general population and includes dimensions that measure distress, preoccupation, and conviction of unusual beliefs. This self-report scale has already been translated into several languages. However, there has not been a validated Taiwanese version previously reported. The aims of the present study were to translate and test the cross-cultural reliability and validity of the PDI in Taiwanese as well as to establish its sensitivity, specificity, and discriminative validity.

Methods

We administered the questionnaire to a consecutive sample of 253 participants with (n = 154; clinical group including schizophrenia and affective psychosis) or without psychotic disorders (n = 99; non-clinical group). In addition to the Taiwanese version of the PDI (PDI-T), the Taiwanese version of the Brief Psychiatric Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS) was used to measure the severity of psychopathology. We tested the psychometric properties of the PDI-T, including its construct validity, internal consistency, test–retest reliability, concurrent, and discriminative validity.

Results

Overall, the PDI-T showed good construct validity, internal consistency, and stability over time, and it was significantly correlated with the BSRS subscales of psychotic symptoms. The convergent and discriminative validity was satisfactory. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the PDI-T was 0.752. This research found that the most appropriate PDI-T yes/no cut-off scores for determining the absence and presence of delusion proneness were 5 and 13.

Conclusions

The PDI is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring the dimensionality of delusion proneness and appears to complement subclinical psychosis assessment scales for both epidemiological and clinical research in Taiwan.

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Acknowledgments

We express our sincere thanks to Dr. Peters, the original PDI designer, for her permission to translate and administer the PDI in the present study. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for very helpful comments on a draft of the paper and the participants and patients who kindly volunteered to take part in this study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Songshan Armed Forces General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

    Yu-Chen Kao & Chien-Wen Lu

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Tzu Chi General Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC

    Tzong-Shi Wang

  3. Department of Family Medicine, Songshan Armed Forces General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

    Tsung-Hsing Cheng

  4. Department of Physiology, National Defense Medical Center, No. 161, Section 6, Min-Chuan East Road, 114, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

    Yia-Ping Liu

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  1. Yu-Chen Kao
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Correspondence to Yia-Ping Liu.

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Kao, YC., Wang, TS., Lu, CW. et al. The psychometric properties of the Peters et al. Delusions Inventory (PDI) in Taiwan: reliability, validity, and utility. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 47, 1221–1234 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-011-0428-y

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