Negative Psychotic-like Experiences Research Articles

A Developmental Perspective on Early and Current Motor Abnormalities and Psychotic-Like Symptoms.

Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are prevalent in the general population and, because they represent a lower end of the psychosis vulnerability spectrum, may be useful in informing mechanistic understanding. Although it is well-understood that motor signs characterize formal psychotic disorders, the developmental trajectory of these features and their relationships with PLEs are less well-understood. Data from 7559 adolescents and young adults (age 11-21) in the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort were used to investigate whether early-life milestone-attainment delays relate to current adolescent sensorimotor functioning and positive and negative PLEs. Current sensorimotor functioning was assessed using the Computerized Finger Tapping task (assessing motor slowing) and Mouse Practice task (assessing sensorimotor planning). Early developmental abnormalities were related to current adolescent-aged motor slowing (t(7415.3) = -7.74, corrected-P < .001) and impaired sensorimotor planning (t(7502.5) = 5.57, corrected-P < .001). There was a significant interaction between developmental delays and current sensorimotor functioning on positive and negative PLEs (t = 1.67-4.51), such that individuals with early developmental delays had a stronger positive relationship between sensorimotor dysfunction and PLEs. Importantly, interaction models were significantly better at explaining current PLEs than those treating early and current sensorimotor dysfunction independently (χ2 = 4.89-20.34). These findings suggest a relationship between early developmental delays and current sensorimotor functioning in psychosis proneness and inform an understanding of heterotypic continuity as well as a neurodevelopmental perspective of motor circuits. Furthermore, results indicate that motor signs are a clear factor in the psychosis continuum, suggesting that they may represent a core feature of psychosis vulnerability.

Distal and proximal risk factors of problematic cannabis use associated with psychotic-like experiences

BackgroundProblematic cannabis use is associated with endorsement of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in non-clinical samples. However, little is known in regard to predictors of this relationship, which may be relevant to prevention and intervention. In the present research, we investigate impulsivity and cannabis use motives as potential distal and proximal risk factors for PLEs using conditional process analysis. MethodsUsing an online cross-sectional survey of N = 300 students, we assessed endorsement of PLEs using the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE), problematic cannabis use with the Cannabis Use Disorder Identification Test (CUDIT-R), motivations for using cannabis with the Substance Use Motives Measure, and impulsivity using the Urgency and Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, Positive Urgency Impulsive Behaviour Scale (UPPS-P). ResultsAll three subscales on the CAPE were associated with significantly higher scores on the CUDIT-R. Before and after covarying for sex, we found that higher CUDIT-R scores mediated the relations between lack of perseverance and negative urgency impulsivity with higher PLE symptoms. Furthermore, the indirect effect of cannabis use on the relationship between lack of perseverance and high negative PLE symptoms was only significant at high and moderate levels of depression-coping, but not at low depression-coping motives. ConclusionImpulsivity and depression-coping motives may be distal and proximal psychological risk factors for negative PLEs in the context of problematic cannabis use. Our findings are in line with the broader substance use and mental health literature and may be informative for cannabis use treatment targets.

The relations of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and depressive symptoms and the bias of depressive symptoms during the clustering among Chinese adolescents: Findings from the network perspective

BackgroundThere are rare studies about the network structure of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and depressive symptoms among adolescents. Studies have widely acknowledged that PLEs in adolescents confer a higher risk of depressive symptoms, but the complex interactions remain inadequately understood. Our study aimed to examine the hierarchy and inter-associations of PLEs and depressive symptoms in a large adolescent sample from the network analysis perspective. MethodsA total of 5008 Chinese adolescents were enrolled in our sample. Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences-42 (CAPE-42) was applied to build the network. Centrality indexes were calculated to represent the significance of nodes in the network. Community detection was conducted to figure out the specific clustering of nodes. Demographic information was collected for the sub-network comparisons. Accuracy and stability of the network were also tested. Results“Failure”, “External control”, and “Lack of activity” were the most central nodes. The main bridge nodes linking PLEs and depressive symptoms were “Failure”, “Guilty”, and “No future”. Positive PLE “Odd looks” and negative PLE “Unable to terminate” are the two PLEs that were most relevant to depressive nodes. Community detection further demonstrated the bias of depressive nodes in the data-driven clustering. Comparative sub-network analysis suggested that age was the only demographic factor related to the current network. ConclusionIn this study of a large adolescent sample, we first demonstrated the network structure and specific clustering preference of PLEs and depressive symptoms.Our findings may enhance the understanding of the relationship between PLE and depressive symptoms.

A psychosocial pathway to paranoia: The interplay between social connectedness and self-esteem

The quantity and quality of social contacts have been related to self-esteem, and both social relationships and self-esteem have been implicated in the pathways to paranoia. However, how social relationships interplay with self-esteem to trigger paranoia is not well understood. This study aims to investigate whether different measures of social connectedness (social support, loneliness, and desired friendship), as well as the frequency of social contact, impact paranoia and other positive and negative psychotic-like experiences (PLE) through the indirect effect of self-esteem. Data from a sample of 169 nonclinically ascertained participants oversampled for schizotypy scores were analyzed using two different approaches: retrospective trait-like and ecological momentary measures of social connectedness. Results showed that self-esteem mediates the pathways from poor social support and social longing, but not from loneliness, to paranoia and other cognitive PLE. In contrast, pathways from social connectedness to perceptual PLE and negative PLE were not mediated by self-esteem. Results were consistent across trait-like and momentary measures. Finally, self-esteem was not implicated in the pathways from the frequency of social contact and paranoia or other forms of PLE. These results provide a comprehensive picture of how social connectedness drives specific symptoms of psychosis through self-esteem. Findings underscore the need to explore separately the quality and quantity of social relationships and suggest that the subjective experience of meaningful social bonds is key social determinants of mental health. Therefore, addressing inadequacies of social connectedness could substantially improve symptomatic and functional outcomes of psychosis.

Latent structure of psychotic-like experiences in adolescents: Evidence from a multi-method taxometric study of a school-based sample in Ghana

Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are subclinical psychotic symptoms that occur outside the context of sleep or are unrelated to drug use. PLEs of varying severity are reportedly very common in adolescence. However, there are concerns about whether the structure of PLEs among adolescents is latently dimensional or categorical (“taxonic”). The current study investigates the latent structure of PLEs in 1,886 adolescents recruited from senior high schools in Ghana. Four multivariate taxometric procedures (MAMBAC, MAXEIG, l-Mode and MAXSLOPE) were applied to analyze the data. Across the taxometric procedures, there was evidence that a dimensional structure underpins positive PLEs, negative PLEs and a combination of positive and negative PLEs. The findings suggest that PLEs are distributed in the adolescent population at differing degrees/severity and that evidence of discontinuity between milder and more severe PLEs is non-existent. The findings highlight the importance of incorporating a dimensional assessment of PLEs into the existing categorical approach so that differences between people can been seen as quantitative variations along the PLEs continuum.

The sense of coherence in healthy individuals with psychotic-like experiences.

Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are subclinical symptoms of psychosis that can be observed in general population. They share many characteristics with psychosis and may, but do not have to, precede the development of psychotic disorders. Sense of coherence (SOC) is a global orientation which helps a person successfully cope with the demands of life, and stay healthy. A SOC level expresses how much a person believes that the world is predictable and coherent, and has been shown to be related to psychological functioning. It consists of the three components: comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness. The aim of the study was to test the relationship between SOC and PLEs, which has not been tested before. The research comprised the pilot and the main study. The study samples consisted of 82 and 215 adults respectively. Psychiatric disorders or the use of psychoactive substances 3 months prior to the study were the exclusion criteria. SOC and PLEs were measured with self-report questionnaires. Correlation and regression analyses were performed to examine the relationship between the study variables. SOC was found to be strongly and negatively correlated with PLEs. Also, SOC was determined to be a non-redundant, negative predictor of psychotic-like experiences. When SOC components (comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness) were tested separately as predictors, meaningfulness was found to be a negative predictor of negative PLEs and a positive predictor of positive PLEs. The results suggest that SOC is an important factor negatively related to PLEs. Further studies are required to verify whether high-level SOC may be a factor preventing the development of PLEs.

Positive and negative psychosis risk symptoms among adolescents in Ghana

ABSTRACT Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) have attracted increased scholarly attention; however, there are limited empirical studies in Africa where environmental risk factors for psychosis such as maltreatment are highly prevalent. The study investigated the prevalence and characteristics of PLEs, as well as the association between PLEs and behavioural maladies among adolescents in Ghana. Data were collected from 553 adolescents (girls = 322, 58.1%) using a cross-sectional survey design. The prevalence of the positive PLEs ranges from 3.8% to 41.2, whereas, for negative PLE, the prevalence ranges from 4.9% to 13% . The PLEs dimensions were significantly associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms, as well as suicidal tendency. Cluster analysis identified three groups of participants: normative, low risk and high risk for psychosis. The psychosis risk groups significantly reported more PLEs and behavioural maladies, compared with the normative group. This preliminary study suggests that psychosis risk symptoms are prevalent in adolescents in Ghana.

Childhood sexual abuse as a potential predictor of psychotic like experiences in Tunisian college students

BackgroundCurrent research has shown that experiencing childhood trauma may predispose individuals for psychosis and expression of Psychotic like experiences (PLEs). We aimed to examine the prevalence and characteristics of PLEs and depressive and negative experiences in a sample of Tunisian college students, and to evaluate the impact of childhood traumas in the occurrence and severity of these experiences at the time of the survey. MethodA total of 482 college students (63.7% female; aged 18–32) participated in a cross-sectional survey. The Positive Subscale of Community Assessment of Psychotic Experiences (CAPE) was used to measure PLEs. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire was used to assess childhood trauma and neglect. Results53.5% (n = 258) of the students reported at least one positive PLE ‘nearly always’, and 40.9% (n = 197) reported at least one negative PLE with this frequency. After controlling for demographic variables (gender, age) and psychosocial factors (drug use, depression, anxiety and stress), sexual abuse significantly contributed to PLEs. ConclusionThere is a need for further cross-cultural research regarding the phenotypal expression of PLEs and its associated variables. Child sexual abuse victims should receive systematic and complete psychological screening during their adolescence/ early adulthood including, among others, PLEs and psychotic symptoms.

The moderating role of cognitive biases on the relationship between negative affective states and psychotic-like experiences in non-clinical adults

Negative emotions and cognitive biases are important factors underlying psychotic symptoms and psychotic-like experiences (PLEs); however, it is not clear whether these factors interact when they influence psychotic phenomena. The aim of our study was to investigate whether psychosis-related cognitive biases moderate the relationship between negative affective states, i.e. anxiety and depression, and psychotic-like experiences. The study sample contains 251 participants who have never been diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. Anxiety, depression, cognitive biases, and psychotic-like experiences were assessed with self-report questionnaires. A moderation analysis was performed to examine the relationship between the study variables. The analyses revealed that the link between anxiety and positive PLEs is moderated by External Attribution bias, whereas the relationship between depression and positive PLEs is moderated by Attention to Threat bias. Attributional bias was also found to moderate the association between depression and negative subclinical symptoms; Jumping to Conclusions bias served as a moderator in the link between anxiety and depression and negative PLEs. Further studies in clinical samples are required to verify the moderating role of individual cognitive biases on the relationship between negative emotional states and full-blown psychotic symptoms.

Investigating the association between emotion regulation and distress in adults with psychotic-like experiences

Many individuals in the general population experience psychotic-like experiences in the absence of a psychotic disorder. The degree of psychological distress associated with these experiences is a key predictor of clinical outcomes. One factor that may influence the degree of distress from psychotic-like experiences is emotion regulation. Although it has been demonstrated that emotion regulation deficits are present in psychotic disorders, the association between emotion regulation and subclinical psychotic-like experiences is not well understood. Here, we examined the associations between frequency of and distress from psychotic-like experiences and several key components of emotion regulation: difficulties with emotion regulation; emotion regulation self-efficacy; and emotion regulation strategy use. Difficulties with emotion regulation and maladaptive patterns of emotion regulation strategy use were associated with the frequency of both positive and negative psychotic-like experiences. In addition, results suggest that habitual acceptance use and reappraisal self-efficacy may serve as protective factors against the distress associated with psychotic-like experiences.

Depression and anxiety mediate the relationship between temperament and character and psychotic-like experiences in healthy subjects.

In this study we examined the hypothesis that depression and anxiety may mediate the relationship between personality traits and both positive and negative psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in healthy adults. The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) scale, Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were administered to 492 healthy individuals. Multiple stepwise regression and mediation analyses were performed to examine whether depressive and anxiety symptoms influence the relationship between the TCI dimensions and positive and negative PLEs. Self-transcendence, persistence, novelty-seeking and self-directedness significantly predicted positive PLEs; self-directedness and harm avoidance were predictable for negative PLEs. Self-transcendence, self-directedness, persistence and harm avoidance also predicted the distress caused by positive PLEs, whereas self-directedness and harm avoidance predicted distress raised by negative PLEs. Depressive symptoms and the state of anxiety partially mediated the linkage between self-directedness and positive PLEs, and between self-directedness, harm avoidance and negative PLEs. Our findings confirm that the personality pattern influences both positive and negative PLEs as well as distress caused by experiencing positive and negative PLEs, and they indicate that certain personality traits may influence the development of PLEs via the emotional pathway of heightened depression and anxiety.

Association between electroencephalographic modulation, psychotic-like experiences and cognitive performance in the general population.

An association between deficit of electroencephalographic (EEG) modulation during an odd-ball task and psychotic symptoms has been described in clinical samples, in agreement with the proposed role for altered salience in psychosis. To discard the possible influence of medication, the relationship between psychotic-like experiences and EEG modulation in the general population was explored. EEG and psychotic-like experiences were assessed in 194 healthy subjects during a P300 paradigm. EEG modulation was assessed as changes from pre-stimulus to response windows in spectral entropy (SE, a measurement of signal irregularity), median frequency (MF, a quantifier of the frequency distribution of oscillatory activity) and theta, alpha, beta-1, beta-2 and gamma relative power (RP, a summary of the distribution of spectral components). A significant widespread decrease in SE and MF from baseline to response was found, with a significant increase in RP for theta and a decrease for higher frequency bands, supporting an increase in EEG regularity and a slowing of brain oscillations during the response. Furthermore, a significant association was found between SE modulation and distress of negative psychotic-like experiences, as well as between verbal memory and RP modulation for beta-1. Performance in verbal fluency was associated with the increase in theta RP during the response. EEG irregularity of healthy subjects decreased at the expense of a larger contribution of theta RP and a decreased contribution of fast frequency bands. Subjects with smaller modulation showed poorer cognitive scores and greater distress of negative psychotic-like experiences.

Association between RGS4 variants and psychotic-like experiences in nonclinical individuals.

The psychosis phenotype is expressed across a continuum known as schizotypy, which ranges from personality variation through subclinical symptoms to severe psychopathology. The study of subclinical manifestations in non-affected individuals minimizes confounding factors associated with the clinical phenotype and facilitates the differentiation of dimension-specific etiological mechanisms. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between the variation in the regulator of G-protein signaling 4 (RGS4) gene, a putative candidate gene for psychosis previously associated with schizophrenia endophenotypes, and psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). In total, 808 healthy individuals completed the community assessment of psychic experiences (CAPE) to measure positive and negative PLEs and provided a DNA sample. Two RGS4 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs951436 [SNP4] and rs2661319 [SNP18]) were genotyped. Analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to explore the association of positive and negative PLEs with RGS4 variation. Our results showed associations of positive and negative PLEs with the two polymorphisms studied: subjects with the T allele (SNP4) and the A allele (SNP18) had higher scores on both the positive and the negative dimensions. Haplotypic analyses supported these results, showing the highest scores in those with the TA haplotype (SNP4-SNP18). The RGS4 variants might exert gene-specific modulating effects on psychosis proneness.

Cognitive biases mediate the relationship between temperament and character and psychotic-like experiences in healthy adults

Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are frequently reported in the general population. Healthy individuals reporting PLEs have a similar personality profile to people with psychosis; however, the mechanisms by which personality influences PLEs are unclear. This study tests the hypothesis that cognitive biases mediate the relationship between two dimensions of personality (i.e. temperament and character) and positive and negative PLEs. Two hundred and ninety-six healthy participants were assessed using the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences scale, the Temperament and Character Inventory and the Davos Scale for Cognitive Biases. We performed multiple stepwise regression analysis and mediation analysis according to Baron and Kenny׳s method. Harm-avoidance and self-directedness personality dimensions significantly predicted PLEs frequency. High self-transcendence and lower cooperativeness predicted positive PLEs. Cognitive biases were significant mediators in relationships between temperament, character and both positive and negative PLEs. In particular, attention to threat and external attribution biases fully mediate the relationship between cooperativeness and positive PLEs. Other cognitive biases partially mediate the relationships between self-transcendence and positive PLEs and self-directedness, harm-avoidance and negative PLEs. Our study tentatively suggests that personality may influence PLEs via the cognitive bias pathway.

Poster #T13 THE EFFECT OF PREVIOUS DOSE OR ORAL ARIPIPRAZOLE (10 OR 30 MG/DAY) ON THE EFFICACY AND TOLERABILITY OF ARIPIPRAZOLE ONCE-MONTHLY: RESULTS FROM POST-HOC ANALYSES FROM TWO DOUBLE-BLIND RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS

Studies of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) within community samples of adolescents have explored predominantly positive experiences. There is a paucity of research examining the prevalence and correlates of negative PLEs, and whether particular subtypes of negative PLEs can be identified among the general population of adolescents. This study examined the association of both positive and negative PLEs with depressive symptoms, including detailed analysis of subtypes of positive and negative psychosis dimensions.A community sample of 777 adolescents (50.9% girls: mean age 14.4 years) completed a questionnaire assessing positive and negative PLEs and depressive symptoms.Principal component factor analysis identified four factors of positive symptoms (persecutory ideation, grandiose thinking, first-rank/hallucinatory experiences and self-referential thinking), and three factors of negative symptoms (social withdrawal, affective flattening, and avolition). Depressive symptoms were associated positively with persecutory ideation, first-rank/hallucinatory experiences, social withdrawal, and avolition, whereas grandiose thinking related negatively with depressive symptoms. Neither self-referential thinking nor affective flattening related to self-reported depression.These findings support the view that not all types of positive and negative PLEs in adolescence are associated with depression and, therefore, they may not confer the same vulnerability for psychotic disorders.

Childhood abuse, the BDNF-Val66Met polymorphism and adult psychotic-like experiences

The well-established relationship between childhood adversity and psychosis is likely to involve other factors such as genetic variants that can help us to understand why not everyone exposed to adverse events develops psychotic symptoms later in life. We investigated the influence of childhood abuse and neglect on positive and negative psychotic-like experiences in adulthood and the potential moderating effect of the BDNF-Val66Met polymorphism. Psychotic-like experiences and childhood adversity were assessed in 533 individuals from the general population. Childhood abuse showed a strong independent effect on the positive dimension of psychotic-like experiences (β = 0.16, s.e. = 0.05, P = 0.002). Furthermore, this association was moderated by the BDNF-Val66Met polymorphism (β = 0.27, s.e. = 0.10, P = 0.004). Individuals exposed to childhood abuse are more likely to report positive psychotic-like experiences. Met carriers reported more positive psychotic-like experiences when exposed to childhood abuse than did individuals carrying the Val/Val genotype. Therefore, the observed gene-environment interaction effect may be partially responsible for individual variation in response to childhood abuse.

Psychotic-like experiences and depressive symptoms in a community sample of adolescents

Purpose Studies of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) within community samples of adolescents have explored predominantly positive experiences. There is a paucity of research examining the prevalence and correlates of negative PLEs, and whether particular subtypes of negative PLEs can be identified among the general population of adolescents. This study examined the association of both positive and negative PLEs with depressive symptoms, including detailed analysis of subtypes of positive and negative psychosis dimensions. Method A community sample of 777 adolescents (50.9% girls: mean age 14.4 years) completed a questionnaire assessing positive and negative PLEs and depressive symptoms. Results Principal component factor analysis identified four factors of positive symptoms (persecutory ideation, grandiose thinking, first-rank/hallucinatory experiences and self-referential thinking), and three factors of negative symptoms (social withdrawal, affective flattening, and avolition). Depressive symptoms were associated positively with persecutory ideation, first-rank/hallucinatory experiences, social withdrawal, and avolition, whereas grandiose thinking related negatively with depressive symptoms. Neither self-referential thinking nor affective flattening related to self-reported depression. Conclusions These findings support the view that not all types of positive and negative PLEs in adolescence are associated with depression and, therefore, they may not confer the same vulnerability for psychotic disorders.