Prevalence and Correlates of Psychotic Like Experiences in a Large Community Sample of Young Adults in Tunisia

Fekih‐Romdhane, Feten; Sassi, Hadhami; Ennaifer, Selima; Tira, Salma; Cheour, Majda

doi:10.1007/s10597-019-00542-1

Cited by 25 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Higher education increased strongly in Tunisia, with the gross enrolment rate at tertiary level rising from 18.83% in 2000 to 34% in 2014, an increase of almost 1.08 percentage points per year over the period. Previous Tunisian studies found that university students had several mental health problems, including high levels of depression, anxiety and stress (Fekih‐Romdhane et al, 2019; Fekih‐Romdhane, Tounsi, et al, 2020), a relatively high prevalence of suicidal ideation (Fekih‐Romdhane, Tounsi, et al, 2020), addiction problems (Ben Abdelaziz et al, 2018; El Mhamdi et al, 2017; Mellouli et al, 2018), eating disorders (Masmoudi et al, 2014), and high rates of psychotic experiences compared to international studies (Fekih‐Romdhane, Sassi, et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, attitude and behaviours toward mental illness and help‐seeking in a large nonclinical Tunisian student sample

Fekih‐Romdhane

Chebbi

Sassi

et al. 2020

Early Intervention Psych

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Background Mental disorders are widespread among students. However, mental health help‐seeking remains low. Several reviews and meta‐analyses have shown that the main barrier to seeking help from mental health professionals is stigma. This paper aimed to assess stigma in a sample of students, and its association with help‐seeking intentions and comfort with disclosing a mental illness. Method The ‘Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill’, the ‘Mental Health Knowledge Schedule’, and the ‘Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale’ were administered to a total of 714 college students (62.2% female; mean age = 20.9). Results We found that 43.8% of students agreed that one of the main causes of mental illness is a lack of self‐discipline and willpower, 21.9% did not consider depression as a mental illness, and 39.6% felt that they would be 'unlikely' or 'very unlikely' to seek the help of a health professional for mental health problems. Females had higher scores in help‐seeking intentions (p < .001) and knowledge of mental illness (p = .019). Students' age negatively correlated with knowledge (p < .001, r = −.147). Pearson correlations indicated that help‐seeking intentions positively correlated with more favourable future intentions of being in contact with a person with a mental illness (p < .001, r = .103) and greater mental health knowledge (p < .001, r = .163); and that comfort with disclosing significantly and negatively correlated with attitudes (p < .001, r = −.125). Conclusion To date, few young people see mental health professionals as a preferred source of support, and action is needed to change this perception or reform mental health services to make them more attractive to this age group.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, attitude and behaviours toward mental illness and help‐seeking in a large nonclinical Tunisian student sample

Fekih‐Romdhane

Chebbi

Sassi

et al. 2020

Early Intervention Psych

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“…The psychometric properties of this release are satisfactory, with internal consistency ranging from 0.78 to 0.83 (Brenner et al, 2007). This scale was previously used to assess PLE in Tunisian non‐clinical populations (Fekih‐Romdhane, Sassi, Ennaifer, Tira, & Cheour, 2020; Fekih‐Romdhane, Tira, & Cheour, 2019).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Link between childhood trauma and psychotic‐like experiences in non‐affected siblings of schizophrenia patients: A case‐control study

Fekih‐Romdhane

Nsibi

Sassi

et al. 2020

Early Intervention Psych

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Aim Prior research has consistently demonstrated a relationship between childhood trauma (CT) exposure and an increased risk of developing psychotic‐like experiences (PLE) and disorders. Studying the link between CT and PLE in non‐clinical populations with or without genetic risk factors could help elucidate the etiopathogeny of psychotic disorders, by removing the effect of confounding variables related to psychotic‐spectrum illnesses. Method A total of 60 non‐affected siblings of patients with schizophrenia and 75 controls (aged 18‐35 years) participated in a cross‐sectional survey. The Positive Subscale of Community Assessment of Psychotic Experiences (CAPE) and the CT Questionnaire were used. Results We found no significant difference with regard to positive dimension of the CAPE between the two groups. Siblings have reported higher CAPE negative symptoms scores than controls (27.9 vs 24.2; P = .015), and more emotional abuse and physical neglect during childhood than controls. After controlling for demographic and psychosocial variables, sexual abuse, emotional neglect and physical neglect were positively related to positive psychotic symptoms in the control group, whereas no dimension of CT has been linked to these symptoms in the sibling group. Conclusion The link between CT and psychosis seems to be complex, not only dependent on genetic vulnerability or early environmental factors shared by siblings of patients with psychotic disorders, but also several other confounding factors, including other psychopathological symptoms. Prevention strategies for individuals at genetic risk of psychosis should pay particular attention to CT as a potential predictor of sub‐clinical depression and psychosis.

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“…From this perspective, anomalous phenomena are explained as hallucinatory symptoms, which manifest at different levels (e.g., Stefanis et al, 2002;Shapiro et al, 2019). Less intense or attenuated hallucinations represent subclinical symptoms that lack psychopathological value within the framework of psychosis (e.g., Nordgaard et al, 2019;Fekih-Romdhane et al, 2020). The most frequent and invasive hallucinations are the most dysfunctional and define acute hallucinatory pictures (in clinical terms) (e.g., Kelly et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Multivariable Multiaxial Suggestibility Inventory-2 (MMSI-2): A Psychometric Alternative to Measure and Explain Supernatural Experiences

2021

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This paper presents the English adaptation of the Multivariable Multiaxial Suggestibility Inventory-2 (MMSI-2), a questionnaire developed specifically for psychological assessment and prediction of anomalous phenomena. The sample consisted of 613 respondents from England (47.6% were women and 52.4% men). All of them were of legal age (mean = 34.5; standard deviation = 8.15). An exploratory factor analysis was applied, and three confirmatory factor models were adjusted. Omega coefficients and test-retest designs were used for reliability analysis. The MMSI-2 has a valid internal structure consisting of five macrofactors: Clinical Personality Tendencies (CPT), Anomalous Perceived Phenomena (APP), Incoherent Manipulations (IMA), Altered States of Consciousness (ASC), and Openness (OP). Omega coefficients for CPT and OP factors were low but acceptable. Furthermore, test-retest trials were excellent for all scales and factors. The psychological factors CPT, IMA, and ASC predicted 18.3% of the variance of anomalous experiences (APP). The authors concluded the English MMSI-2 was a valid and reliable test for the evaluation of anomalous phenomena but recommend that subsequent research reviews the predictive quality of the underlying model.

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Prevalence and Correlates of Psychotic Like Experiences in a Large Community Sample of Young Adults in Tunisia

Cited by 25 publications

References 67 publications

Knowledge, attitude and behaviours toward mental illness and help‐seeking in a large nonclinical Tunisian student sample

Knowledge, attitude and behaviours toward mental illness and help‐seeking in a large nonclinical Tunisian student sample

Link between childhood trauma and psychotic‐like experiences in non‐affected siblings of schizophrenia patients: A case‐control study

The Multivariable Multiaxial Suggestibility Inventory-2 (MMSI-2): A Psychometric Alternative to Measure and Explain Supernatural Experiences

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