Differences in Cognitive and Emotional Processes Between Persecutory and Grandiose Delusions
نویسندگان
چکیده
BACKGROUND Cognitive models propose that cognitive and emotional processes, in the context of anomalies of experience, lead to and maintain delusions. No large-scale studies have investigated whether persecutory and grandiose delusions reflect differing contributions of reasoning and affective processes. This is complicated by their frequent cooccurrence in schizophrenia. We hypothesized that persecutory and grandiose subtypes would differ significantly in their associations with psychological processes. METHODS Participants were the 301 patients from the Psychological Prevention of Relapse in Psychosis Trial (ISRCTN83557988). Persecutory delusions were present in 192 participants, and grandiose delusions were present in 97, while 58 were rated as having delusions both of persecution and grandiosity. Measures of emotional and reasoning processes, at baseline only, were employed. RESULTS A bivariate response model was used. Negative self-evaluations and depression and anxiety predicted a significantly increased chance of persecutory delusions whereas grandiose delusions were predicted by less negative self-evaluations and lower anxiety and depression, along with higher positive self and positive other evaluations. Reasoning biases were common in the whole group and in categorically defined subgroups with only persecutory delusions and only grandiose delusions; however, jumping to conclusions, and belief flexibility were significantly different in the 2 groups, the grandiose group having a higher likelihood of showing a reasoning bias than the persecutory group. CONCLUSION The significant differences in the processes associated with these 2 delusion subtypes have implications for etiology and for the development of targeted treatment strategies.
منابع مشابه
A preliminary investigation into theory of mind and attributional style in adults with grandiose delusions.
INTRODUCTION A preliminary cognitive model of grandiose delusions has been put forward suggesting that persecutory and grandiose delusions shared distinct, yet overlapping psychological processes. This study aims to test this model and hypothesises that participants experiencing grandiose delusions may demonstrate a theory of mind (ToM) impairment and differences in attributional style compared...
متن کاملEvent attributes and the content of psychotic experiences in first-episode psychosis.
BACKGROUND Previous psychosocial stress research, contemporary cognitive models, and new cognitive behavioural treatments for psychosis converge in suggesting that stressful events influence the content of psychotic experiences. In this paper we test whether the attributes of stressful events preceding the initial onset of psychosis are associated with core themes of the illness. METHOD Forty...
متن کاملFrequency and clinical significance of delusions across cultures.
The pattern of delusions in a cross-cultural hospital population was studied. It was found that there were cultural differences in persecutory, grandiose and religious, and sexual and fantastic delusions, accounted for mainly by the relatively higher frequencies in the African and West Indian cultural groups. These phenomena can be understood in terms of the cultural backgrounds of these groups...
متن کاملA cognitive model of persecutory delusions.
A multifactorial model of the formation and maintenance of persecutory delusions is presented. Persecutory delusions are conceptualized as threat beliefs. The beliefs are hypothesized to arise from a search for meaning for internal or external experiences that are unusual, anomalous, or emotionally significant for the individual. The persecutory explanations formed reflect an interaction betwee...
متن کامل