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Citation
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Gayer-Anderson C, Knowles G, Beards S, Turner A, Stanyon D, Davis S, Blakey R, Lowis K, Dorn L, Ofori A, Rus-Calafell M, Morgan C, Valmaggia L. Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol. 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub. |
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Abstract
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PURPOSE: Paranoid ideation is common among adolescents, yet little is known about the precursors. Using a novel immersive virtual reality (VR) paradigm, we tested whether experiences of bullying, and other interpersonal/threatening events, are associated with paranoid ideation to a greater degree than other types of (i) non-interpersonal events or (ii) adverse childhood experiences.
METHODS: Self-reported exposure to adverse life events and bullying was collected on 481 adolescents, aged 11-15. We used mixed effects (multilevel) linear regression to estimate the magnitude of associations between risk factors and paranoid ideation, assessed by means of adolescents' reactions to ambiguously behaving avatars in a VR school canteen, adjusting for putative confounders (gender, year group, ethnicity, free school meal status, place of birth, family mental health problems).
RESULTS: Lifetime exposure to interpersonal/threatening events, but not non-interpersonal events or adverse circumstances, was associated with higher levels of state paranoid ideation, with further evidence that the effect was cumulative (1 type: ϐ(adj) 0.07, 95% CI -0.01-0.14; 2 types: ϐ(adj) 0.14, 95% CI 0.05-0.24; 3 + types: ϐ(adj) 0.24, 95% CI 0.12-0.36). More tentatively, for girls, but not boys, recent bullying was associated with heightened paranoid ideation with effect estimates ranging from ϐ(adj) 0.06 (95% CI -0.02-0.15) for physical bullying to ϐ(adj) 0.21 (95% CI 0.10-0.32) for cyber bullying.
CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest a degree of specificity for adversities involving interpersonal threat or hostility, i.e. those that involve unwanted interference and/or attempted control of an individual's personal boundaries being associated with heightened levels of state paranoid ideation among adolescents.
Language: en |