Background and Hypothesis Sex differences in psychosis are reported across the psychosis spectrum, including in subclinical stages. An important factor in understanding these variations is the subjective experience of everyday social interactions (SI). We investigated whether the presence of psychotic experiences (PEs), as well as associated distress, differs between men and women. We focused on the role of daily-life SI quality and whether its association with PEs varies by sex. Study Design We included adolescents from SIGMA, a general youth population study in Flanders, Belgium (n = 344; mean age = 18.7; 63.4% female). Psychotic experiences were measured using the PQ-16. We used Experience Sampling Methodology to assess daily-life SI. A multilevel model and multiple linear regressions were used to assess, respectively, the relationship between sex and SI quality and whether PEs and their association with SI quality differ between young men and women. Study Results The results of the multilevel linear regression model indicate that the prevalence of and distress associated with PEs were higher in women. No significant difference was observed in the subjective quality of daily SI. Social interaction quality was strongly related to PEs. This association did not seem to vary for the prevalence of PEs, though women’s distress about PEs appeared to be more affected by SI quality. Conclusions Present findings highlight the role of the subjective quality of SI in subclinical psychosis. More research is needed to investigate the mechanisms through which SI quality relates to PEs, and whether these differ between young men and women.

中文翻译：

---

亚临床精神病经历中的性别差异：日常生活社交互动的作用


背景和假设 精神病的性别差异在整个精神病谱系中都有报道，包括亚临床阶段。理解这些变化的一个重要因素是日常社交互动 （SI） 的主观体验。我们调查了男性和女性之间精神病经历 （PEs） 的存在以及相关的痛苦是否不同。我们关注日常生活 SI 质量的作用以及它与 PE 的关联是否因性别而异。研究设计 我们纳入了来自比利时佛兰德斯 SIGMA 的一般青年人群研究的青少年 （n = 344;平均年龄 = 18.7;63.4% 为女性）。使用 PQ-16 测量精神病经历。我们使用经验抽样方法来评估日常生活 SI。多级模型和多元线性回归分别用于评估性别与 SI 质量之间的关系，以及 PE 及其与 SI 质量的关联在年轻男性和女性之间是否不同。研究结果 多级线性回归模型的结果表明，女性的 PE 患病率和与 PE 相关的痛苦较高。在每日 SI 的主观质量方面未观察到显著差异。社交互动质量与 PE 密切相关。这种关联似乎没有因 PE 的患病率而变化，尽管女性对 PE 的痛苦似乎更受 SI 质量的影响。结论 目前的研究结果强调了 SI 的主观质量在亚临床精神病中的作用。需要更多的研究来调查 SI 质量与 PE 相关的机制，以及年轻男性和女性之间的机制是否不同。