Lucia R Valmaggia1, Fern Day2, Philippa Garety2, Daniel Freeman3, Angus Antley4, Mel Slater5, David Swapp4, Inez Myin-Germeys6, Philip McGuire2. 1. King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, United Kingdom; South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Lucia.Valmaggia@kcl.ac.uk. 2. King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, United Kingdom; South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom. 3. University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, United Kingdom. 4. Department of Computer Science, University College London, Gower Street, London, United Kingdom. 5. Department of Computer Science, University College London, Gower Street, London, United Kingdom; Event Lab, Faculty of Psychology, ICREA-University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. 6. Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The experience of social defeat may increase the risk of developing psychotic symptoms and psychotic disorders. We studied the relationship between social defeat and paranoid appraisal in people at high risk for psychosis in an experimental social environment created using Virtual Reality (VR). METHOD: We recruited UHR (N=64) participants and healthy volunteers (N=43). Regression analysis was used to investigate which baseline measures predicted paranoid appraisals during the VR experience. RESULTS: At baseline, UHR subjects reported significantly higher levels of social defeat than controls (OR=.957, (CI) .941-.973, p<.000). Following exposure to the VR social environment, the UHR group reported significantly more paranoid appraisals than the controls (p<.000). Within the UHR sample, paranoid appraisals were predicted by the level of social defeat at baseline, as well as by the severity of positive psychotic and disorganised symptoms. CONCLUSION: In people who are at high risk of psychosis, a history of social defeat is associated with an increased likelihood of making paranoid appraisals of social interactions. This is consistent with the notion that social defeat increases the risk of developing psychosis.
BACKGROUND: The experience of social defeat may increase the risk of developing psychotic symptoms and psychotic disorders. We studied the relationship between social defeat and paranoid appraisal in people at high risk for psychosis in an experimental social environment created using Virtual Reality (VR). METHOD: We recruited UHR (N=64) participants and healthy volunteers (N=43). Regression analysis was used to investigate which baseline measures predicted paranoid appraisals during the VR experience. RESULTS: At baseline, UHR subjects reported significantly higher levels of social defeat than controls (OR=.957, (CI) .941-.973, p<.000). Following exposure to the VR social environment, the UHR group reported significantly more paranoid appraisals than the controls (p<.000). Within the UHR sample, paranoid appraisals were predicted by the level of social defeat at baseline, as well as by the severity of positive psychotic and disorganised symptoms. CONCLUSION: In people who are at high risk of psychosis, a history of social defeat is associated with an increased likelihood of making paranoid appraisals of social interactions. This is consistent with the notion that social defeat increases the risk of developing psychosis.
Authors: Álvaro I Langer; Klaas Wardenaar; Johanna T W Wigman; José Luis Ulloa; Daniel Núñez Journal: Front Psychiatry Date: 2022-06-27 Impact factor: 5.435
Authors: Paula Cristóbal-Narváez; Tamara Sheinbaum; Araceli Rosa; Sergi Ballespí; Marta de Castro-Catala; Elionora Peña; Thomas R Kwapil; Neus Barrantes-Vidal Journal: PLoS One Date: 2016-07-07 Impact factor: 3.240