Abstract. Background. Formal thought and language disturbances are central to schizophrenia spectrum disorders, yet their relationship with dimensional psychopathology remains incompletely understood. The Thought and Language Disorder scale (TALD) provides a detailed assessment of these phenomena beyond global symptom ratings. Aim. To examine the association between overall psychopathology severity and PANSS symptom dimensions with thought and language disturbance in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Methods. Thirty inpatients were assessed using PANSS and TALD. Spearman correlations and linear regression analyses were performed, including the PANSS five-factor model. Results. Total PANSS score was strongly associated with TALD (ρ=.73, p<.001). The five-factor model explained 73.9% of variance in TALD, with disorganized/concrete (β=.827, p<.001) and depressed (β=.338, p=.006) factors as independent predictors. Conclusions. Thought and language disturbance is strongly associated with overall psychopathology, primarily driven by disorganization, with an additional contribution from depressive symptoms.

Key words: schizophrenia spectrum disorders, formal thought disorder, TALD, PANSS, disorganization

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