To assess psychotic-like experiences and their correlates in a large sample of urban dwelling general population in Tehran, the capital city of Iran.

A random sample of 2158 subjects aged 18 -65 residing in a densely populated area in southern Tehran was surveyed. Psychotic-like experiences were assessed with the Symptom Checklist–90–Revised (SCL90-R) symptom dimensions “paranoid ideation” and “psychoticism”. Paykel's Interview for Recent Life Events was used to examine recent and past stressful life events.

Using “moderately experienced” cut-off level, the prevalence of psychoticism symptoms ranged from 9.4% (Having thoughts that are not your own) to 18.4% (The idea that you should be punished for sins); paranoid symptoms were reported in 24% (Having ideas that other do not share) to 50.3% (Feeling that most people cannot be trusted). In linear regression analyses, younger age, single or divorced marital status, past history of a psychiatric illness, and current psychological distress (as measured by GSI score in SCL90-R) were associated with psychoticism dimension, whereas female sex, past history of a psychiatric illness, current psychological distress and recent stressful life events contributed to paranoid ideations.

A considerable proportion of a sample in an urban population in Iran displayed psychotic-like experiences. Correlates of these experiences are similar to those observed for psychiatric problems in general, and does not appear to be specific for psychotic spectrum.