718 research outputs found
The Impact of Social Deprivation on Paranoia, Hallucinations, Mania and Depression: The Role of Discrimination Social Support, Stress and Trust
The negative implications of living in a socially unequal society are now well documented. However, there is poor understanding of the pathways from specific environmental risk to symptoms. Here we examine the associations between social deprivation, depression, and psychotic symptoms using the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, a cross-sectional dataset including 7,353 individuals. In addition we looked at the mediating role of stress, discrimination, trust and lack of social support. We found that the participants' neighbourhood index of multiple deprivation (IMD) significantly predicted psychosis and depression. On inspection of specific psychotic symptoms, IMD predicted paranoia, but not hallucinations or hypomania. Stress and trust partially mediated the relationship between IMD and paranoid ideation. Stress, trust and a lack of social support fully mediated the relationship between IMD and depression. Future research should focus on the role deprivation and social inequalities plays in specific manifestations of psychopathology and investigate mechanisms to explain those associations that occur. Targeting the mediating mechanisms through appropriate psychological intervention may go some way to dampen the negative consequences of living in an unjust society; ameliorating economic injustice may improve population mental health
Indirect measurement of dysfunctional attitudes in bipolar affective disorder
Objective. The present study uses an indirect measure to explore whether dysfunctional attitudes are characteristic of all phases of bipolar disorder. Previous studies with bipolar patients using indirect measurements have uncovered depression-like responses that were otherwise undetected. Design. A cross-sectional study design was adopted to explore the presence of dysfunctional attitudes within each phase of the illness. Method. Manic patients, depressed bipolar patients, remitted bipolar patients, and healthy controls were compared on a sentence stem completion task designed to implicitly assess dysfunctional attitudes. Results. The manic, depressed, and remitted patients all exceeded the controls on implicit measures of dysfunctional attitudes. Conclusions. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that all phases of bipolar disorder are associated with depressogenic dysfunctional attitudes. Š 2009 The British Psychological Society
Negative cognition, affect, metacognition and dimensions of paranoia in people at ultra-high risk of psychosis: a multi-level modelling analysis
Background: Paranoia is one of the commonest symptoms of psychosis but has rarely been studied in a population at risk of developing psychosis. Based on existing theoretical models, including the proposed distinction between âpoor meâ and âbad meâ paranoia, we aimed to test specific predictions about associations between negative cognition, metacognitive beliefs and negative emotions and paranoid ideation and the belief that persecution is deserved (deservedness).
Method: We used data from 117 participants from the Early Detection and Intervention Evaluation for people at risk of psychosis (EDIE-2) trial of cognitiveâbehaviour therapy, comparing them with samples of psychiatric in-patients and healthy students from a previous study. Multi-level modelling was utilized to examine predictors of both paranoia and deservedness, with post-hoc planned comparisons conducted to test whether person-level predictor variables were associated differentially with paranoia or with deservedness.
Results: Our sample of at-risk mental state participants was not as paranoid, but reported higher levels of âbad-meâ deservedness, compared with psychiatric in-patients. We found several predictors of paranoia and deservedness. Negative beliefs about self were related to deservedness but not paranoia, whereas negative beliefs about others were positively related to paranoia but negatively with deservedness. Both depression and negative metacognitive beliefs about paranoid thinking were specifically related to paranoia but not deservedness.
Conclusions: This study provides evidence for the role of negative cognition, metacognition and negative affect in the development of paranoid beliefs, which has implications for psychological interventions and our understanding of psychosis
Paranoid beliefs and conspiracy mentality are associated with different forms of mistrust: A three-nation study
Paranoia and conspiracy are terms typically used interchangeably. However, although the underlying content of these types of beliefs might be similar (e.g., seeing others as powerful and threatening), recent research suggests that these constructs differ in important ways. One important feature shared by both constructs is excessive mistrust but this aspect might play different roles in each belief system. In this study we explored the strength of associations of different trust predictors (i.e., trust in institutions, trust in sources of information, perceptual trust, and interpersonal trust) between conspiracy mentality and paranoid beliefs. We tested this association in a large representative multinational sample (United Kingdom n =â2025; Spain n =â1951; and Ireland n =â1041). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor model of conspiracy and paranoid beliefs in each nation sample. Path and equality of constraints analysis revealed that paranoia was more strongly associated with perceptual mistrust (bias towards mistrusting unfamiliar faces) whereas conspiracy was more strongly associated with mistrust in political institutions. Although interpersonal mistrust and trust in social sources of information were associated significantly with conspiracy their association with paranoid beliefs was stronger. These findings clarify the role of different trust processes in both belief systems. Limitations of this study are discussed
Mistrust and negative selfâesteem:Two paths from attachment styles to paranoia
OBJECTIVES: Paranoia is known to be associated with insecure attachment, with negative selfâesteem as a mediator, but this pathway is insufficient to explain the paranoid individualâs beliefs about malevolent others. Mistrust is a likely additional factor as it is a core feature of paranoid thinking also associated with insecure attachment styles. In this study, we tested whether mistrust â operationalized as judgements about the trustworthiness of unfamiliar faces â constitutes a second pathway from insecure attachment to paranoia. DESIGN: The design of the study was crossâsectional. METHODS: A nationally representative British sample of 1,508 participants aged 18â86, 50.8% female, recruited through the survey company Qualtrics, completed measurements of attachment style, negative selfâesteem, and paranoid beliefs. Usable data were obtained from 1,121 participants. Participants were asked to make trustworthiness judgements about computerâgenerated faces, and their outcomes were analysed by conducting signal detection analysis, which provided measures of bias (the tendency to assume untrustworthiness in conditions of uncertainty) and sensitivity (accuracy in distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy faces). RESULTS: Results using structural equation modelling revealed a good model fit (RMSEA = .071, 95% CI: 0.067â0.075, SRMR = .045, CFI = .93, TLI = .92). We observed indirect effects through bias towards mistrust both for the relationship between attachment anxiety and avoidance (β = .003, 95% CI: 0.001â0.005,p < .001) and attachment anxiety and paranoia (β = .003, 95% CI 0.002â0.006, p < .001). We observed an indirect effect through negative selfâesteem only for the relationship between attachment anxiety and paranoia (β = .064, 95% CI: 0.053â0.077, p < .001). Trust judgements and negative selfâesteem were not associated with each other. CONCLUSIONS: We find that a bias towards mistrust is associated with greater paranoia. We also find indirect effects through bias towards mistrust between attachment styles and paranoia. Finally, we reaffirm the strong indirect effect through negative selfâesteem between attachment anxiety and paranoia. Limitations of the study are discussed. PRACTITIONER POINTS: When working with individuals suffering from paranoia, clinicians should consider not only explicit, deliberative cognitive processes of the kind addressed in cognitive behaviour therapy (e.g. cognitive restructuring) but also the way in which their patients make perceptual judgements (e.g., their immediate reactions on encountering new people) and consider interventions targeted at these judgements, for example, bias modification training. Assessment and clinical interventions for people should consider the role of trust judgements and the way in which they combine with low selfâesteem to provoke paranoid beliefs. Psychological interventions targeting paranoid beliefs should focus on both attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance
Inner speech and clarity of self-concept in thought disorder and auditory-verbal hallucinations
Eighty patients and thirty controls were interviewed using one interview that promoted personal disclosure and another about everyday topics. Speech was scored using the Thought, Language and Communication scale (TLC). All participants completed the Self-Concept Clarity Scale (SCCS) and the Varieties of Inner Speech Questionnaire (VISQ). Patients scored lower than comparisons on the SCCS. Low scores were associated the disorganized dimension of TD. Patients also scored significantly higher on condensed and other people in inner speech, but not on dialogical or evaluative inner speech. The poverty of speech dimension of TD was associated with less dialogical inner speech, other people in inner speech, and less evaluative inner speech. Hallucinations were significantly associated with more other people in inner speech and evaluative inner speech. Clarity of self-concept and qualities of inner speech are differentially associated with dimensions of TD. The findings also support inner speech models of hallucinations
Subjective cognitive complaints in schizophrenia:relation to antipsychotic medication dose, actual cognitive performance, insight and symptoms
Background: Subjective cognitive complaints are prevalent in those affected by functional psychoses and a variety of possible associated factors have been investigated. However, few studies have examined these potential factors within single studies or analyses. Methods: Patients with a history of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (n = 115) and a non-clinical comparison group (n = 45) completed the Subjective Scale to Investigate Cognition in Schizophrenia (SSTICS) and the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). The patient group also completed the Positive and Negative Syndromes Scale (PANSS), the Birchwood Insight Scale (IS), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results: The BACS and SSTICS scores were associated in the non-clinical comparison group, but not in the patient group. In the patient group worse subjective cognition was associated positively with good insight, greater dysphoria and greater positive symptoms. Linear regression revealed that, once other variables had been accounted for, dysphoria (HADS anxiety and depression factor) was the only significant predictor of SSTICS scores. Conclusions: Subjective cognitive impairment in patients with psychosis in the absence of formal testing should not be taken as evidence of impaired cognitive functioning. Mood should be investigated when patients present with subjective cognitive complaints
Why conspiracy theorists are not always paranoid: Conspiracy theories and paranoia form separate factors with distinct psychological predictors
Paranoia and belief in conspiracy theories both involve suspiciousness about the intentions of others but have rarely been studied together. In three studies, one with a mainly student sample (N = 496) and two with more representative UK population samples (N = 1,519, N = 638) we compared single and two-factor models of paranoia and conspiracy theories as well as associations between both belief systems and other psychological constructs. A model with two correlated factors was the best fit in all studies. Both belief systems were associated with poor locus of control (belief in powerful others and chance) and loneliness. Paranoid beliefs were specifically associated with negative self-esteem and, in two studies, insecure attachment; conspiracy theories were associated with positive self-esteem in the two larger studies and narcissistic personality traits in the final study. Conspiracist thinking but not paranoia was associated with poor performance on the Cognitive Reflection Task (poor analytical thinking). The findings suggest that paranoia and belief in conspiracy theories are distinct but correlated belief systems with both common and specific psychological components
- âŚ