Social Predictors of Psychotic Experiences: Specificity and Psychological Mechanisms
- 20 August 2008
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Schizophrenia Bulletin
- Vol. 34 (6), 1012-1020
- https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbn103
Abstract
It has become widely accepted that the psychotic disorders are endpoints of atypical developmental trajectories indexed by abnormal emotional and cognitive development early in life. However, the role of environmental factors in determining these trajectories has received relatively little attention. In this article, we argue that (1) the influence of environment on psychosis can best be understood if we focus on specific types of psychotic experiences such as hallucinations and delusions, (2) these symptoms are the products of specific cognitive biases and deficits, and (3) the development of these particular patterns of cognitive functioning is influenced by specific kinds of environmental adversity. This approach is at variance with more conventional approaches because it suggests that each type of experience, rather than being the manifestation of a common underlying illness process, is a product of a specific set of causal variables. Importantly, these variables include environmental determinants, although not to the exclusion of endogenous factors such as neurodevelopmental impairment or genetic vulnerability. We discuss the implications of this approach for neurobiological and genetic research into psychosis, as well as clinical practice.Keywords
This publication has 142 references indexed in Scilit:
- A temporal difference account of avoidance learningNetwork: Computation in Neural Systems, 2008
- Childhood Trauma and Psychotic Disorders: a Systematic, Critical Review of the EvidenceSchizophrenia Bulletin, 2007
- ‘Jumping to Conclusions’ and Attributional Style in Persecutory DelusionsCognitive Therapy and Research, 2007
- Attachment styles, interpersonal relationships and psychotic phenomena in a non-clinical student samplePersonality and Individual Differences, 2006
- Environment and Schizophrenia: Review: The Wider Social Environment and SchizophreniaSchizophrenia Bulletin, 2005
- Alien voices and inner dialogue: towards a developmental account of auditory verbal hallucinationsNew Ideas in Psychology, 2004
- ‘Theory of mind’ skills during an acute episode of psychosis and following recoveryPsychological Medicine, 1998
- Adult attachment in a nationally representative sample.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1997
- Physical and Sexual Assault History in Women With Serious Mental Illness: Prevalence, Correlates, Treatment, and Future Research DirectionsSchizophrenia Bulletin, 1997
- Reality discrimination, reality monitoring and disposition towards hallucinationBritish Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1995