TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2024//
TI  - Immersive virtual reality as a novel approach to investigate the association between adverse events and adolescent paranoid ideation
JO  - Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology
A1  - Gayer-Anderson, Charlotte
A1  - Knowles, Gemma
A1  - Beards, Stephanie
A1  - Turner, Alice
A1  - Stanyon, Daniel
A1  - Davis, Sam
A1  - Blakey, Rachel
A1  - Lowis, Katie
A1  - Dorn, Lynsey
A1  - Ofori, Aisha
A1  - Rus-Calafell, Mar
A1  - Morgan, Craig
A1  - Valmaggia, Lucia
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - 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. <br><br>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). <br><br>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. <br><br>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.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0933-7954
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00127-024-02701-6
ID  - ref1
ER  -