The role of predisposition to hallucinations on non-clinical paranoid vs. socially anxious individuals after hearing negative affective-laden sounds: an experimental investigation

Pandemic paranoia, general paranoia, and their relationships with worry and beliefs about self/others - A multi-site latent class analysis

BACKGROUND

During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in paranoid thinking has been reported internationally. The development of the Pandemic Paranoia Scale (PPS) has provided a reliable assessment of various facets of pandemic paranoia. This study aimed to (i) identify classes of individuals with varying levels of general paranoia and pandemic paranoia, and (ii) examine associations between classification and worry, core beliefs, and pro-health behaviours.

METHODS

An international sample of adults (N = 2510) across five sites completed the Revised-Green Paranoid Thoughts Scale and the PPS. Latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted using these two paranoia variables. Classes were compared on trait worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire), beliefs about self/others (Brief Core Schema Scales), and pro-health behaviour.

RESULTS

Three latent classes emerged: Class 1 with low R-GPTS and PPS scores, Class 2 with a high R-GPTS score and a moderate PPS score, and Class 3 with high R-GPTS and PPS scores. Compared to Class 1, Classes 2-3 were associated with more worry and negative self- and other-beliefs. Class 3 was further characterised by greater positive-self beliefs and less engagement in pro-health behaviours. Engagement in pro-health behaviours was positively correlated with interpersonal mistrust and negatively correlated with paranoid conspiracy and persecutory threat.

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals with a general paranoia tendency were more likely to respond to the global health threats in a suspicious and distrusting way. Our findings suggested that worry and negative self/other beliefs may contribute to not just general paranoia but also pandemic paranoia. The preliminary finding of a link between pro-health behaviours and interpersonal mistrust warrants further examination.

Paranoia, hallucinations and compulsive buying during the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United Kingdom: A preliminary experimental study

This study examines the impact of COVID-19 (in the early phase of the outbreak) on symptoms of psychosis, namely paranoia and hallucinations. Three hundred and sixty-one people in the United Kingdom participated in a 2 (self-isolation vs. no self-isolation) x 2 (perceived COVID-19 symptomatology vs. no perceived COVID-19 symptomatology) x 2 (exposure to COVID-19 news vs. control) experiment online. Participants completed measures of political trust, social network, fear of COVID-19, current paranoid thoughts, hallucinatory experiences and compulsive buying. Kruskal-Wallis results showed that employed people and students are more prone to paranoia and hallucinatory experiences in response to COVID-19 news. A multigroup model showed a moderation effect of the news conditions - in the COVID-19 news condition, fear of COVID-19 and political trust significantly predict the variance of paranoia, hallucinatory experiences and compulsive buying and these co-vary with each other but not in the control condition. In line with cognitive and social theories of paranoia, results suggest that negative affect and low political trust are linked to the presence of paranoid thoughts and hallucinatory experiences and compulsive buying amid COVID-19. Digitized and Tailored Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy are proposed to address the psychiatric impact of COVID-19.

Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy: A Descriptive Review (2000 to July 2016)

BACKGROUND

The Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BCP) Journal is the main academic publication of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies. It publishes empirical studies, reviews and theoretical papers, brief reports and single cases.

AIM

To describe the main areas of interest and focus in BCP papers.

METHOD

All the papers published in BCP from 2000 to July 2016 were analysed. A categorization procedure was followed with 813 contributions in six main areas: main author country; main author gender; kind of contribution; kind of therapeutic approaches; kind of samples; kind of focus/topic.

RESULTS

Although the journal's scope is international, first authors tend to come from English-speaking countries. Since 2009, females contribute more than males. Empirical studies surpass theoretical studies and reviews, while the main therapy denomination is cognitive behavioural therapy. Variability of samples is wide, and ranges from analogues to main disorders. Finally, the main focus of papers is to study change and psychopathology, therapists' training and improvement of CBT.

CONCLUSION

Given the total number of categorized papers, it can be tentatively assumed that they could exemplify some main areas of interest and evolvement in the cognitive and behavioural field.