RELATION BETWEEN CREATIVITY AND TENDENCY TOWARD PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN THE LIGHT OF A SHARED VULNERABILITY MODEL

The aim of this study was to explore a model of shared vulnerability, which explains the relationship between creativity and psychopathology using three groups of variables: 1) protective factors (high IQ, good working memory, and high cognitive flexibility), 2) risk factors (lower IQ performance, poor working memory capacity, and cognitive rigidity), and 3) shared vulnerability factors (openness to experience, hyperconnectivity, and low latent inhibition). The research was conducted on 151 participants, mean age 18.56. Subjects completed the tasks from the Divergent Thinking Test, the items from the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM), Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices, the Digit Symbol Coding task from the WAIS, the Trail Making Test (TMT), the Big Five Inventory (BFI), a synesthesia questionnaire, and a latent inhibition task. Two hierarchical regressions were performed, and the results showed that significant predictors of creativity were Openness to Experience, a tendency towards synesthesia, latent inhibition and, marginally, working memory. Symptoms of different disorders were significantly predicted by low working memory capacities and marginally by a tendency toward synesthesia. Our results partially support the hypothesis of the shared vulnerability model, but also suggest some new questions for further research.