To assess subtle pre-psychotic anomalies of subjective experiences in adolescents might become a key point for early screening of psychotic risk. Yet the ideal instrument would need to be a brief, responsive, reliable, and valid measures that can be implemented in strategic extra-clinical community settings with minimal cost and burden. The Frankfurt-Pamplona Subjective Experience Scale is a 18-item, likert-format, self-report measure developed on the basis of empirically-derived condensation of the Frankfurt Complaint Questionnaire (Cuesta et al., 1996).

The objective of this study was to field test the Italian adaptation of the FPSES, assess its reliability and validity and explore eventual overlap with schizotypal personality traits.

A pilot field test was implemented in a randomized sample of both high school and university classes in the urban area of Novara (Italy). A total of about 208 students agreed to participate. Internal consistency and factor analytic methods were used to assess the psychometric properties of the instrument.

The FPSES revealed a high internal consistency and a monofactorial item segregation independent of schizotypal dimensions.

Analyses of the FPSES supported its reliability and validity for assessing experiential vulnerability in a non-intrusive way. Self-perceived experiential vulnerability showed only minimal overlap with concomitant schizotypal traits and defines a putatively autonomous domain of individual pre-psychotic liability. Normative data for the sample are presented.