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How do people with persecutory delusions evaluate threat in a controlled social environment? A qualitative study
Miriam Fornells-Ambrojo1, Daniel Freeman2, Mel Slater3
1University College London,UK.
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy
|October 10, 2013
Summary
Individuals with persecutory delusions interpret neutral social environments similarly to controls but rely more on feelings than active testing. This impacts how they perceive potential threats.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Psychiatry
- Virtual Reality Research
Background:
- Environmental factors are linked to psychosis.
- Limited qualitative research exists on the individual-environment interaction in maintaining psychotic symptoms.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate how individuals with persecutory delusions interpret events in a neutral virtual social environment.
- Utilize qualitative methodology to explore threat perception.
Main Methods:
- 20 participants with persecutory delusions and 20 controls interacted in a virtual reality train with neutral characters.
- Qualitative analysis of post-virtual reality interviews from the first 10 participants in each group.
Main Results:
- Thematic analysis identified 11 themes related to decision-making in attributing intentions to virtual characters.
- Themes were grouped into evidence for/against paranoid appraisals and other behaviors.
Conclusions:
- Individuals with persecutory delusions can employ similar judgment strategies as controls in neutral, non-anxiety-provoking environments.
- They are less likely to engage in active hypothesis-testing, favoring "affect" as evidence of persecutory intent.
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