Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T09:04:50.432Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cognitive Processes in Delusional Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Christopher Fear ,
Helen Sharp  and
David Healy
Christopher Fear*
Affiliation:
Kidderminster General Hospital, Bewdley Road, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, DY11 6RJ
Helen Sharp
Affiliation:
Hergest Unit
David Healy
Affiliation:
Hergest Unit
*
Dr Healy, Hergest Unit, Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2PW
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Studies of schizophrenics with persecutory delusions have shown cognitive biases in subjects who are deluded. It has been suggested that their delusions defend against depression. This study challenges the assumption that delusional disorder (DD) patients are covertly depressed.

Method

Clinical and demographic data and responses to questionnaires designed to assess schizotypy, depression, dysfunctional attitudes, attributional and attention biases were collected from 29 patients satisfying DSM–III–R criteria for DD. These were compared with 20 matched normal controls and results from published studies of schizophrenics.

Results

DD subjects did not show abnormal levels of overt or covert depression or schizotypy. They showed high levels of dysfunctional attitudes (P < 0.0001), a distinctive attributional style (P = 0.01), and increased attention to threat-related stimuli (P = 0.01).

Conclusions

DD is a distinct disorder predicated upon sensitivity to threat and biases of attention and attribution. These findings may have implications for the cognitive therapy of these disorders.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 168 , Issue 1 , January 1996 , pp. 61 - 67
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T. & Beamesderfer, A. (1974) Assessment of depression: The depression inventory. In Psychological Measurements in Psychopharmacology (ed Pichot, P.). Basel: Karger.Google Scholar
Bentall, R. P. (1994) Cognitive biases and abnormal beliefs: towards a model of persecutory delusions. In The Neuropsychology of Schizophrenia (eds David, A. S. & Cutting, J.), pp. 337–360. London: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bentall, R. P. & Kaney, S. (1989) Content specific information processing and persecutory delusions: An investigation using the emotional Stroop task. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 62, 355–364.Google Scholar
Candido, C. L. & Romney, D. M. (1990) Attributional style in paranoid vs. depressed patients. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 63, 355–363.Google Scholar
Chadwick, P. D. J. & Lowe, C. F. (1994) A cognitive approach to measuring and modifying delusions. Behaviour Research & Therapy, 32, 355–367.Google Scholar
Eckblad, M. & Chapman, L. J. (1983) Magical ideation as an indicator of schizotypy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51, 215–225.Google Scholar
Fear, C. F. (1995) Cognitive processes in obsessive–compulsive and delusional disorders. Unpublished MD thesis, University of Liverpool.Google Scholar
Healy, D. & Williams, J. M. G. (1988) Dysrhythmia, dysphoria and depression. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 163–210.Google Scholar
Kaney, S. & Bentall, R. P. (1989) Persecutory delusions and attributional style. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 62, 191–198.Google Scholar
Kinderman, P., Kaney, S., Morley, S., et al (1992) Paranoia and the defensive attributional style: Deluded and depressed patients' attributions about their attributions. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 65, 371–383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nelson, H. E. (1982) National Adult Reading Test (NART). London: Nfer-Nelson.Google Scholar
Peterson, C., Semmel, A., Von Baeyer, C., et al (1982) The attributional style questionnaire. Cognitive Research and Therapy, 6, 287–298.Google Scholar
Ross, L. & Anderson, C. A. (1982) Shortcomings in the attribution process: On the origins and maintenance of erroneous social assessments. In Judgement Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases (eds Kahneman, D., Slovic, P. & Tversky, A.), pp. 129–152. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ullman⊘, L. P. & Krasner, L. (1969) A Psychological Approach to Abnormal Behaviour. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Weissman, A. N. (1979) The dysfunctional attitude scale: A validation study. Dissertation Abstracts International, 40, 1389–1390.Google Scholar
Wessely, S., Buchanan, A., Reed, A., et al (1993) Acting on delusions. I: prevalence. British Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 69–76.Google Scholar
Williams, J. M. G., Healy, D., Teasdale, J. D., et al (1990) Dysfunctional attitudes and vulnerability to persistent depression. Psychological Medicine, 20, 375–381.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.