A Ten-Year Longitudinal Study of Intense Ambivalence as a Predictor of Risk for Psychopathology

The predictive validity of the Intense Ambivalence Scale was examined in a 10-year longitudinal study of 362 psychometrically identified psychosis-prone and control participants. Elevated scores on the Intense Ambivalence Scale predicted psychotic-like and depressive symptoms, and the development of psychotic illnesses at the 10-year follow-up assessment (after the removal of variance for membership in the psychosis-prone and control groups). Elevated scores on the scale were also associated with substance abuse, schizotypal symptoms, and impaired functioning at both the initial and follow-up assessments. The Intense Ambivalence Scale did not differentially enhance the predictive power of the Perceptual Aberration or the Magical Ideation Scales.