Prevalence and correlates of self-reported psychotic symptoms in the British population

Johns, Louise; Cannon, Mary; Singleton, Nicola; Murray, Robin M.; Farrell, Michael; Brugha, Traolach; Bebbington, Paul; Jenkins, Rachel; Meltzer, Howard

doi:10.1192/bjp.185.4.298

Cited by 486 publications

(406 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…It was found that certain groups of non-clinical individuals, such as members of new religious movements, reported very similar patterns of unusual experiences and delusional ideation observed in people with psychosis; the important difference was that they experienced significantly less distress and preoccupation with their beliefs (Smith, Riley, & Peters, 2009;Peters, Day, McKenna, & Orbach, 1999). Population surveys confirmed the prevalence rates of self-reported psychotic experiences as being significantly higher than those of clinical psychotic disorders (Johns et al, 2004;Freeman, 2006), showing that psychotic symptoms are not exclusive to people with diagnosable mental health problems.…”

Section: A Dimensional View: the Psychosis Continuummentioning

confidence: 89%

Cognitive factors maintaining persecutory delusions in psychosis: The contribution of depression.

Vorontsova¹,

Garety²,

Freeman³

2013

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

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Depression is common in people with schizophrenia, but how it might directly contribute to the persistence of psychotic symptoms has rarely been tested. The key aim of the present study was to test whether depression and associated cognitive processes predict the maintenance of persecutory delusions. Three groups of participants were tested at baseline: 60 patients with persecutory delusions in the context of a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis, 30 patients with depression, and 30 nonclinical controls. They completed interviewer and self-report assessments of depression and paranoia, and measures of six cognitive factors (schematic beliefs, experiential avoidance, autobiographical memory, problem solving, rumination, worry style). The patients with persecutory delusions were then assessed again, six months later. It was found that 50% of the patients with persecutory delusions met diagnostic criteria for major depression. Cognitive processes found to be associated with depression across the groups were negative schematic beliefs about the self, experiential avoidance and rumination, but not autobiographical memory or problem solving. The severity of initial depression in patients with persecutory delusions predicted the persistence of paranoia over six months. A number of cognitive factors also predicted the persistence of persecutory delusions, including negative schematic beliefs about the self, worry, and problem-solving difficulties. In conclusion, depression is common in patients with current persecutory delusions, and it shows similar cognitive features to major depressive disorder. The results of this study indicate that depression and related processes may contribute to the maintenance of paranoia. Trials are warranted of depression-related therapeutic techniques for people with persecutory delusions.

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Section: A Dimensional View: the Psychosis Continuummentioning

confidence: 89%

Cognitive factors maintaining persecutory delusions in psychosis: The contribution of depression.

Vorontsova¹,

Garety²,

Freeman³

2013

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

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“…However, it is now widely accepted that psychotic symptoms lie on a continuum with normal experience, that non-clinical and clinical symptoms share the same risk factors and the presence of non-clinical experiences increase the risk of clinical disorder Johns et al, 2004).…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sleep quality and paranoia: The role of alexithymia, negative emotions and perceptual anomalies

Rehman

Gumley

Biello

2018

Psychiatry Research

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A B S T R A C TRecent evidence suggests that sleep problems are associated with psychotic like experiences including paranoia. However, the mechanisms underpinning this association are not well understood and thus studies modelling hypothesised mediating factors are required. Alexithymia, the inability to recognise and describe emotions within the self may be an important candidate. In two separate studies we sought to investigate factors mediating the relationship between sleep quality and paranoia using a cross-sectional design. Healthy volunteers without a mental health diagnosis were recruited (study 1, N = 401, study 2, N = 402). Participants completed a series of measures assessing paranoia, negative emotions, alexithymia and perceptual anomalies in an online survey. In study 1, regression and mediation analyses showed that the relationship between sleep quality and paranoia was partially mediated by alexithymia, perceptual anomalies and negative affect. In contrast, study 2 found that the relationship between sleep quality and paranoia was fully mediated by negative affect, alexithymia and perceptual anomalies. The link between sleep quality and paranoia is unclear and reasons for discrepant results are discussed. Novel findings in this study include the link between alexithymia and paranoia.

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“…This finding is consistent with cognitive psychological theories about the development of psychotic experiences. Childhood emotional abuse has been found to damage self-representation (Finzi-Dottan and Karu, 2006), causing individuals to believe that other people are hostile and threatening, which may then trigger the onset and maintenance of psychotic experiences (Johns et al, 2004). Support for this theory stems from a recent study that found that negative schematic beliefs about others are particularly associated with paranoia-related symptoms (Gracie et al, 2007).…”

Section: Trauma-related Variables and Psychotic Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are psychotic experiences among detained juvenile offenders explained by trauma and substance use?

Colins

Vermeiren

Vreugdenhil³

et al. 2009

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

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Prevalence and correlates of self-reported psychotic symptoms in the British population

Abstract: Self-reported psychotic symptoms are less common in this study than reported elsewhere, because of the measure used. These symptoms have demographic and clinical correlates similar to clinical psychosis.

Cited by 486 publications

References 31 publications

Cognitive factors maintaining persecutory delusions in psychosis: The contribution of depression.

Cognitive factors maintaining persecutory delusions in psychosis: The contribution of depression.

Sleep quality and paranoia: The role of alexithymia, negative emotions and perceptual anomalies

Are psychotic experiences among detained juvenile offenders explained by trauma and substance use?

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