HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS Psychiatric Bulletin Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in BJP Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Johns, L. C. Articles by Meltzer, H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Johns, L. C. Articles by Meltzer, H.

Prevalence and correlates of self-reported psychotic symptoms in the British population

Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, London

Nicola Singleton

Drugs & Alcohol Research Programme, Research Development & Statistics Directorate, Home Office, London

Robin M. Murray, DSc

Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, London

Michael Farrell, MRCPsych

National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London

Traolach Brugha, FRCPsych

University of Leicester, Section of Social and Epidemiological Psychiatry, Department of Health Sciences, Leicester General Hospital, Leicester

Paul Bebbington, FRCPsych

Royal Free and University College Medical School, Department of Mental Health Sciences, London

Rachel Jenkins, FRCPsych

WHO Collaborating Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London

Howard Meltzer, PhD

Office for National Statistics, London

Correspondence: Dr L.C. Johns, PO67 Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. E-mail: ljohns{at}iop.kcl.ac.uk

Declaration of interest None.

Background The psychosis phenotype is generally thought of as a categorical entity. However, there is increasing evidence that psychosis exists in the population as a continuum of severity rather than an all-or-none phenomenon.

Aims To investigate the prevalence and correlates of self-reported psychotic symptoms using data from the 2000 British National Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity.

Method A total of 8580 respondents aged 16–74 years were interviewed. Questions covered mental health, physical health, substance use, life events and socio-demographic variables. The Psychosis Screening Questionnaire (PSQ) was used to identify psychotic symptoms.

Results Of the respondents, 5.5% endorsed one or more items on the PSQ. Factors independently associated with psychotic symptoms were cannabis dependence, alcohol dependence, victimisation, recent stressful life events, lower intellectual ability and neurotic symptoms. Male gender was associated with paranoid thoughts, whereas female gender predicted hallucinatory experiences.

Conclusions Self-reported psychotic symptoms are less common in this study than reported elsewhere, because of the measure used. These symptoms have demographic and clinical correlates similar to clinical psychosis.

Related articles in BJP:

Highlights of this issue

BJP 2004 185: 277-a15. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Vercammen and A. Aleman Semantic Expectations Can Induce False Perceptions in Hallucination-Prone Individuals Schizophr Bull, June 17, 2008; (2008) sbn063v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. R. YUNG and P. D. McGORRY Prediction of psychosis: setting the stage The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2007; 191(51): s1 - s8. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. BARKUS, J. STIRLING, R. HOPKINS, S. McKIE, and S. LEWIS Cognitive and neural processes in non-clinical auditory hallucinations The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2007; 191(51): s76 - s81. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Allardyce, W. Gaebel, J. Zielasek, and J. van Os Deconstructing Psychosis Conference February 2006: The Validity of Schizophrenia and Alternative Approaches to the Classification of Psychosis Schizophr Bull, July 1, 2007; 33(4): 863 - 867. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Dutta, T. Greene, J. Addington, K. McKenzie, M. Phillips, and R. M. Murray Biological, Life Course, and Cross-Cultural Studies All point Toward the Value of Dimensional and Developmental Ratings in the Classification of Psychosis Schizophr Bull, July 1, 2007; 33(4): 868 - 876. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Freeman and P. Garety Helping patients with paranoid and suspicious thoughts: a cognitive-behavioural approach Advan. Psychiatr. Treat., November 1, 2006; 12(6): 404 - 415. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Parker and S. Lewis Identification of young people at risk of psychosis Advan. Psychiatr. Treat., July 1, 2006; 12(4): 249 - 255. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. J. WILES, S. ZAMMIT, P. BEBBINGTON, N. SINGLETON, H. MELTZER, and G. LEWIS Self-reported psychotic symptoms in the general population: Results from the longitudinal study of the British National Psychiatric Morbidity Survey The British Journal of Psychiatry, June 1, 2006; 188(6): 519 - 526. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Freeman, P. A. Garety, P. E. Bebbington, B. Smith, R. Rollinson, D. Fowler, E. Kuipers, K. Ray, and G. Dunn Psychological investigation of the structure of paranoia in a non-clinical population The British Journal of Psychiatry, May 1, 2005; 186(5): 427 - 435. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]