Paranoia as a Continuum in the Population

Authors

  • Célia Barreto Carvalho Department of Educational Sciences, University of Azores, Azores, Portugal CINEICC, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
  • José Pinto-Gouveia CINEICC, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
  • Ermelindo Peixoto Department of Educational Sciences, University of Azores, Azores, Portugal
  • Carolina da Motta Department of Educational Sciences, University of Azores, Azores, Portugal CINEICC, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

Keywords:

paranoia, schizophrenia, cognitive-behavioral therapy

Abstract

Paranoid beliefs, though key to the diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, are not exclusively seen in patients suffering from this psychopathology and exist in less severe forms across different populations. Evaluating these symptoms as a continuum may be more interesting for the understanding of paranoia rather than the dichotomous approach to this kind of ideation. The main goal of the current research is to assess how paranoid beliefs are present across different populations. Using the Portuguese versions of the General Paranoia Scale and the Paranoia checklist, we compared the endorsement of paranoid beliefs in 187 subjects (64 healthy controls from the general population, 32 relatives from schizophrenia patients, 30 patients in remission and 61 patients with acute schizophrenia symptoms).  The results show that paranoia is present throughout the population, from non-clinical forms to more severe clinical samples, demonstrating a continuum of increased frequency and intensity until it reaches a delusional level. Environmental factors in the endorsement of such beliefs are also discussed.

 

References

American Psychiatric Association. “Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders†(4th ed.) (American Psychiatric Association), Washington, DC, 1994.

C. L. Bowden, L. S. Schoenfeld, & R. L. Adams. “Mental health attitudes and treatment expectations as treatment variablesâ€, Journal of Clinical Psychology, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 653-657, 1980. DOI: 10.1037/0735-7028.22.2.149.

P. W. Corrigan. “Mental health stigma as social attribution: Implications for research methods and attitude changeâ€, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, vol. 71, pp. 48-67, 2000. DOI:10.1093/clipsy/7.1.48.

A. Mestdagh, & B. Hansen. “Stigma in patients with schizophrenia receiving community mental health care: a review of qualitative studiesâ€, Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, Vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 79-87, 2014.

G. Thornicroft, E. Brohan, D. Rose, N. Sartorius, & M. Leese. “Global pattern of experienced and anticipated discrimination against people with schizophrenia: a cross-sectional surveyâ€, The Lancet, Vol. 373, no. 9661, pp. 408-415, 2009. DOI:10.1016/S0140-67360861817-6.

W.W. Eaton, A. Romanoski, J. C. Anthony, & G. Nestadt. “Screening for psychosis in the general population with a self-report interviewâ€, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, vol. 179, no. 11, pp. 689-93, 1991. DOI: 10.1097/00005053-199111000-00007.

H. Verdoux, J. van Os, S. Maurice-Tison, B. Gay, R. Salamon, & M. Bourgeois. “Is early adulthood a critical developmental stage for psychosis proneness? A survey of delusional ideation in normal subjectsâ€, Schizophrenia Research, Vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 247-254, 1998. DOI: 10.1016/S0920-99649700095-9.

J. van Os, M. Hanssen, R. Bijl, & A. Raveli. “Strauss 1969 revisited: a psychosis continuum in the general population?â€, Schizophrenia Research, Vol. 45, no. 1-2, pp. 11-20, 2000; DOI: 10.1016/S0920-99640090323-2.

D. Combs, C. Michael, & D. Penn. “Paranoia and emotion perception across the continuumâ€, The British Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 45, no. 1, 19-31, 2006. DOI: 10.1348/014466505X29099.

M. Campbell, & A. Morrison. “The Subjective Experience of Paranoia: Comparing the Experiences of Patients with Psychosis and Individuals with No Psychiatric Historyâ€, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Vol 14, no. 1, pp. 63-77, 2007. DOI: 10.1002/cpp.510.

S. Melo, & R. Bentall. “Coping in subclinical paranoia: A two nations studyâ€, Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, Vol. 83, no. 4, pp. 407-420, 2010. DOI: 10.1348/147608310X487542.

B.G. Schimmelmann, C. Michel, N. Schaffner, & F. Schultze-Lutter. “What percentage of people in the general population satisfies the current clinical at-risk criteria of psychosis?â€, Schizophrenia Research, Vol. 125, pp. 99-100, 2011. DOI:10.1016/j.schres.2010.09.018.

J.van Os, R.J. Linscott, I. Myin-Germeys, P. Delespaul, & L. Krabbendam. “A systematic review and meta-analysis of the psychosis continuum: evidence for a psychosis proneness-persistence-impairment model of psychotic disorderâ€, Psychological Medicine, Vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 179-95, 2009. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291708003814.

H. Verdoux, & J. van Os. “Psychotic symptoms in non-clinical populations and the continuum of psychosisâ€, Schizophrenia Research, Vol. 54, no. 1-2, pp. 59-65, 2002.

A. Fenigstein, & P. Vanable. “Paranoia and self-consciousnessâ€, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 129-138, 1992. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.62.1.129.

B. A. Alford & A.T. Beck. “The Integrative Power of Cognitive Therapyâ€, pp. 137-164, (Guilford Press), New York, 1997.

D. Freeman, P. Garety, E. Kuipers, D. Fowler, & E. Bebbington. “A Cognitive model of persecutory delusionsâ€, British Journal of Clinical Psychology, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 331-347, 2002. DOI: 10.1348/014466502760387461.

T. Binbay, M. Drukker, H. Elbi, F. Aksu Tanik, F. Ozkinay, H. Onay, N. Zagli, J van Os, & -K. Alptekin. “Testing the Psychosis Continuum: Differential Impact of Genetic and Nongenetic Risk Factors and Comorbid Psychopathology across the Entire Spectrum of Psychosisâ€, Schizophrenia Bulletin, vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 992-1002, 2011. DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbr003.

I. Kelleher, & M. Cannon. “Psychotic-like experiences in the general population: characterizing a high-risk group for psychosisâ€, Psychological Medicine, Vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 1-6, 2011. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291710001005.

D. Freeman, K. Pugh, & P. Garety. “Jumping to conclusions and paranoid ideation in the general populationâ€, Schizophrenia research, Vol. 102, no. 1, pp. 254-260, 2008.

E. Peters, S. A. Joseph, & P. Garety. “Measurement of delusional ideation in the normal population: Introducing the PDIâ€, Schizophrenia Bulletin, Vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 553–563, 1999.

D. Freeman, P. Garety, E. Kuipers, S. Colbert, S. Jolley, D. Fowler, G. Dunn, & P. Bebbington. “Delusions and Decision-making style: Use of Need for Closure Scaleâ€, Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 44, no. 8, pp. 263-283, 2005. DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2005.09.00.

D. Freeman, K. Pugh, N. Vorontsova, A. Antley, & M. Slater. “Testing the Continuum of Delusional Beliefs: An Experimental Study Using Virtual Realityâ€, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. 119, no. 1, pp. 83-92, 2010. DOI: 10.1037/a0017514.

B. Lopes Paranoia e Ansiedade Social na População Não-Clínica [Dissertation]. Coimbra: University of Coimbra; 2010. 285p.

D. Freeman, P. Garety, P. Bebbington, B. Smith, R. Rollinson, D. Fowler, E. Kuipers, K. Ray, & G. Dunn. “Psychological investigation of the structure of paranoia in a non-clinical populationâ€, The British Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 186, pp. 427-435, 2005. DOI: 10.1192/bjp.186.5.427.

J. Maroco. “Análise estatística com utilização do SPSS [Statistical analysis using SPSS]â€, (Edições Sílabo), Lisboa, 2010.

P. Garety, & D. Hemsley. “Delusions: Investigations into the psychology of delusional reasoningâ€, (Oxford University Press), Oxford, 1994.

P. Garety, & D. Freeman. “Cognitive approaches to delusions: a critical review of theories and evidenceâ€, British Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 113-154, 1999. DOI: 10.1348/014466599162700.

E. Georgaca. “Talk and the Nature of Delusions: Defending Sociocultural Perspectives on Mental Illnessâ€, Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology: PPP, Vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 87-94, 2004. DOI: 10.1353/ppp.2004.0038.

M. L. Esterberg, & M.T. Compton. “The psychosis continuum and categorical versus dimensional diagnostic approachesâ€, Current Psychiatry Reports, Vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 179-84, 2009. DOI: 10.1007/s11920-009-0028-7.

A.R. Yung, B. Nelson, K. Baker, J.A. Buckby, G. Baksheev, & E. M. Cosgrave. “Psychotic-like experiences in a community sample of adolescents: implications for the continuum model of psychosis and prediction of schizophreniaâ€, The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 118-28, 2009. DOI: 10.1080/00048670802607188.

L. Ellett, B. Lopes, & P. Chadwick. “Paranoia in a Nonclinical Population of College Studentsâ€, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, vol. 191, no. 7, pp. 425–430, 2003. DOI: 10.1097/01.NMD.0000081646.33030.EF.

Downloads

Published

2014-06-15

How to Cite

Carvalho, C. B., Pinto-Gouveia, J., Peixoto, E., & da Motta, C. (2014). Paranoia as a Continuum in the Population. Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Studies, 2(3). Retrieved from https://ajouronline.com/index.php/AJHSS/article/view/1293

Issue

Section

Articles