Abstract: The CAPE-42 is a self-report questionnaire designed to assess psychotic-like experiences in the general population. This study examined its factorial structure in a sample of 1,265 Argentine adults. Exploratory factor analyses (EFA) and item response theory (IRT) analyses were conducted. Through an iterative procedure, 21 items with superior psychometric properties were identified and organized into two factors: negative–depressive symptoms (11 items) and positive symptoms (10 items), accounting for 45% of the total variance. Both factors demonstrated unidimensionality and adequate fit to the graded response model, as well as good scalability, reliability (ω = .89 and ω = .90), and information functions. The new abbreviated version, CAPE-R21, enhances the instrument’s parsimony and reveals a clustering of negative and depressive symptoms at subclinical levels. This study provides empirical evidence supporting the validity of the CAPE-R21 and underscores the utility of IRT for optimizing scales in culturally specific contexts.
Rinaldi et al. (Fri,) studied this question.