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Paranoid Explanations of Experience: A Novel Experimental Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2010

Catherine E. L. Green ,
Daniel Freeman ,
Elizabeth Kuipers ,
Paul Bebbington ,
David Fowler ,
Graham Dunn  and
Philippa A. Garety
Catherine E. L. Green*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK
Daniel Freeman
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK
Elizabeth Kuipers
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK
Paul Bebbington
Affiliation:
Royal Free and University College Medical School, University of London, UK
David Fowler
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice, University of East Anglia, UK
Graham Dunn
Affiliation:
School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, University of Manchester, UK
Philippa A. Garety
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK
*
Reprint requests to Catherine Green, Department of Psychology, King's College London, P.O. Box 077, Institute of Psychiatry, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Background: Paranoia is a common experience in the non-clinical population. We use a novel experimental methodology to investigate paranoid ideas in individuals without a history of mental illness. Aims: We aimed to determine whether this paradigm could elicit unfounded paranoid thoughts and whether these thoughts could be predicted by factors from a cognitive model. Method: Fifty-eight individuals took part and completed measures assessing trait paranoia, mood, self and other schema and attributional style. They were exposed to two experimental events: 1) an interruption to the testing session by a stooge, and 2) a recording of laughter played outside the testing room and subsequently asked about their explanations for these events. Results: 15.5% (n = 9) of the sample gave a paranoid explanation for at least one of the experimental events. The remainder reported generally neutral explanations. Individuals with a paranoid explanation reported significantly higher levels of trait paranoia. Factors predictive of a paranoid interpretation were interpersonal sensitivity and attributional style. Conclusions: The results show that spontaneous paranoid explanations can be elicited in non-clinical individuals, even for quite neutral events. In line with current theories, the findings suggest that emotional processes contribute to paranoid interpretations of events, although, as a novel study with a modest sample, it requires replication.

Keywords

Paranoiapersecutory delusionsexperimental design
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 21 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2010

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