Immersive virtual reality as a novel approach to investigate the association between adverse events and adolescent paranoid ideation.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
; 2024 Jun 28.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38942902
ABSTRACT
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 Ïadj 0.07, 95% CI -0.01-0.14; 2 types Ïadj 0.14, 95% CI 0.05-0.24; 3 + types Ïadj 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 Ïadj 0.06 (95% CI -0.02-0.15) for physical bullying to Ïadj 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.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
Journal subject:
CIENCIAS SOCIAIS
/
EPIDEMIOLOGIA
/
PSIQUIATRIA
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United kingdom
Country of publication:
Germany