RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Paranoia is often accompanied by distressing intrusions associated with traumatic memories, yet one of the best-evidenced interventions, imagery rescripting (IR), is not routinely offered. This is likely to be due to poor understanding of the effects of IR on postulated mechanisms of change as well as the absence of a robust evidence base. AIMS: This study aimed to establish proof of principle that IR impacts key cognitive-affective processes associated with distressing intrusions - memory characteristics and self-representations - and level of paranoia. METHOD: We used a within-subject repeated measures design to examine the effect of single-session IR on memory characteristics (level of intrusions, vividness, distress, encapsulated belief strength, emotion intensity and frequency), self-representation variables, affect and paranoia. Fifteen participants were seen once before and once after the IR session, to gather baseline and follow-up data. RESULTS: As predicted, participants reported reductions in memory characteristics, improved self-esteem and positive affect, and reduced negative affect and paranoia, with large effect sizes. These effects were maintained at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: While a within-subject design is useful for initial exploration of novel interventions, controlled studies are needed to determine causality. This is the first study to examine mechanisms of IR in paranoia. A controlled trial is now warranted.