This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by HANSSEN, M.
Right arrow Articles by van OS, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by HANSSEN, M.
Right arrow Articles by van OS, J.
The British Journal of Psychiatry (2005) 187: s55-s58
© 2005 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Role of distress in delusion formation*

MANON HANSSEN, MA, PhD and LYDIA KRABBENDAM, MA, PhD

Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University

RON de GRAAF, MA, PhD and WILMA VOLLEBERGH, MA, PhD

The Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht

JIM van OS, MD, PhD, MRCPsych

Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, The Netherlands and Division of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

Correspondence: Professor Jim van Os, Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, PO Box 616 (DRT 10), 6200MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 43 387 5443; fax: +31 43 387 5444; e-mail: j.vanos{at}sp.unimaas.nl

Declaration of interest None. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

* Paper presented at the Third International Early Psychosis Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, September 2002.

Background Contemporary cognitive psychological theories suggest that distress plays a mediating role in delusion formation.

Aims To study the amplifying role of distress from early perceptual intrusions to delusion formation.

Method A general population sample of 7076 individuals was interviewed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) in 1996 (baseline), 1997 (T1) and 1999 (T2). At T2, clinicians also scored the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) item‘unusual thought content’. Analyses compared hallucinatory experiences with and without subjective distress at baseline for risk of delusion formation at follow-up.

Results Individuals experiencing hallucinations with distress, compared with those without distress had a fourfold increased risk of subsequent delusion formation.

Conclusions This finding corroborates the hypothesis that distress associated with early perceptual intrusions serves as a catalyst in the development of delusions.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Br. J. PsychiatryHome page
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]