Background: Aberrant salience (AS), related to classical delusional mood and self-disturbances, may be one of the keys to early detection of psychosis, before abnormal assignment of significance. As adolescence is a critical period in development of the self and there are few instruments for evaluating AS, validation of the Aberrant Salient Inventory (ASI) is proposed for use in the general adolescent population.
Methods: A sample of 4,523 participants, 53.6% women, from 11 to 18 years of age (M = 14.31, SD = 1.66), from 29 schools in Western Andalusia (Spain) were evaluated collectively.
Results: Good fit was found in the answers, and the original five-factor structure of the inventory was replicated. Reliability (ordinal alpha) was adequate both for the total (.95) and for the factors (.74. to .85). Invariance across sex, adequate indicators of concurrent (ideas of reference) and divergent (negative symptoms) validity, and sensitivity of .88 were found.
Conclusions: The results suggest the ASI for use in the general adolescent population, and show that 7% of the sample could be at risk of beginning psychosis.