A meta-analysis on the efficacy of low-intensity cognitive behavioural therapy for generalised anxiety disorder.

Background: Low-intensity cognitive behavioural therapy (LICBT) has been recommended as a primary intervention in the tiered care for mild to moderate generalised anxiety disorder. However, LICBT for generalised anxiety disorder are markedly diverse and efficacy data on various outcomes have not been systematically reviewed. This meta-analysis aimed to synthesise effect sizes of three NICE-recommended LICBT for generalised anxiety disorder: non-facilitated self-help, guided self-help, and psychoeducational groups.

The role of loneliness and negative schemas in the moment-to-moment dynamics between social anxiety and paranoia.

Social anxiety and paranoia often co-occur and exacerbate each other. While loneliness and negative schemas contribute to the development of social anxiety and paranoia separately, their role in the development of the two symptoms co-occurring is rarely considered longitudinally. This study examined the moment-to-moment relationship between social anxiety and paranoia, as well as the effects of loneliness and negative schemas on both experiences individually and coincidingly.

The role of general vs pandemic-specific paranoid ideation in the use of recommended health behaviors and vaccine willingness during a worldwide pandemic: An international study in the general public.

Background: The public's adherence to recommended COVID-19 preventative behaviors, including vaccinations and social distancing, has been low in certain groups and has contributed to many preventable deaths worldwide. An examination of general and pandemic-specific aspects of nonclinical paranoid ideation may aid in the understanding of the public's response to the pandemic, given that it is a global threat event.

Methods: A representative international sample of general adults (N = 2,510) from five international sites were recruited with stratified quota sampling.

Moment-to-moment affective dynamics in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Background: Affective disturbances in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may represent a transdiagnostic etiological process as well as a target of intervention. Hypotheses on similarities and differences in various parameters of affective dynamics (intensity, successive/acute changes, variability, and reactivity to stress) between the two disorders were tested.

Methods: Experience sampling method was used to assess dynamics of positive and negative affect, 10 times a day over 6 consecutive days.

Selective processing in attention and memory in schizophrenia: A meta-analysis of the negative priming effect.

Individuals with schizophrenia show impairments in a variety of selective attention tasks. Research on the negative priming (NP) effect in schizophrenia has yielded mixed evidence. This meta-analysis aimed to examine the NP effect exhibited by patients with schizophrenia and the impact of study methodology on findings.

The co-occurrence of multidimensional loneliness with depression, social anxiety and paranoia in non-clinical young adults: A latent profile analysis.

Introduction: Loneliness is a negative experience arising from a mismatch between perceived and actual social relationships. Several dimensions of loneliness have been suggested, namely intimate, relational and collective loneliness. Loneliness has been linked to poorer mental health, with its co-occurrence with depression, social anxiety, and paranoia most widely reported.

Pandemic paranoia in the general population: international prevalence and sociodemographic profile.

Background: The term 'pandemic paranoia' has been coined to refer to heightened levels of mistrust and suspicion towards other people specifically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we examine the international prevalence of pandemic paranoia in the general population and its associated sociodemographic profile.

Methods: A representative international sample of general population adults ( = 2510) from five sites (USA = 535, Germany = 516, UK = 512, Australia = 502 and Hong Kong = 445) were recruited using stratified quota sampling (for age, sex, educational attainment) and completed the Pandemic Paranoia Scale (PPS).

Pandemic paranoia, general paranoia, and their relationships with worry and beliefs about self/others - A multi-site latent class analysis.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in paranoid thinking has been reported internationally. The development of the Pandemic Paranoia Scale (PPS) has provided a reliable assessment of various facets of pandemic paranoia. This study aimed to (i) identify classes of individuals with varying levels of general paranoia and pandemic paranoia, and (ii) examine associations between classification and worry, core beliefs, and pro-health behaviours.

Efficacy of Motivational Interviewing in Treating Co-occurring Psychosis and Substance Use Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

A wealth of evidence has supported the efficacy of motivational interviewing (MI) in reducing substance use as well as other addictive behaviors. In view of the common co-occurrence of substance use disorder among individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, there has been increased attention to applying MI in psychological interventions for individuals with co-occurring psychosis and substance use disorder. This review aims to synthesize the evidence on the efficacy of MI interventions (either as a stand-alone intervention or in combination with other psychological interventions) in reducing substance use and psychotic symptoms.

Inflexibility in Reasoning: Comparisons of Cognitive Flexibility, Explanatory Flexibility, and Belief Flexibility Between Schizophrenia and Major Depressive Disorder.

Inflexibility in reasoning has been suggested to contribute to psychiatric disorders, such as explanatory flexibility in depression and belief flexibility in schizophrenia. However, studies tended to examine only one of the flexibility constructs, which could be related to each other, within a single group of patients. As enhancing flexibility in thinking has become one of the psychological treatment goals across disorders, this study aimed to examine three constructs of flexibility (cognitive flexibility, explanatory flexibility, and belief flexibility) in two psychiatric groups.

White matter integrity in young medication-naïve bipolar II depressed adults.

It is unknown if young medication-naïve bipolar II (BPII) depressed patients have increased white matter (WM) disruptions. 27 each of young (average 23 years) and treatment-naïve BPII depressed, unipolar depressed (UD) patients and age-sex-education matched healthy controls (HC) underwent 3 T MRIs with diffusion tensor imaging. Diagnostic ratings included Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders (SCID), Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A).

A randomised controlled trial of metacognitive training for psychosis, depression, and belief flexibility.

Background: Metacognitive training (MCT) has been shown to be effective in reducing psychotic symptoms, including delusions. However, less is known on whether MCT, or its specific modules, are effective in ameliorating reasoning biases e.g.

Risk perception in paranoia and anxiety: Two investigations across clinical and non-clinical populations.

Objectives: It is common, among clinical and non-clinical populations alike, for paranoia and anxiety to co-occur. It has been suggested that anxiety and its related appraisal styles may contribute to development of paranoia. We aimed to evaluate different aspects of risk perception in relation to paranoia and anxiety and to identify specific aspects that may differentiate paranoia from anxiety.

Moment-to-moment dynamics between auditory verbal hallucinations and negative affect and the role of beliefs about voices.

Background: Negative affect (NA) has been suggested to be both an antecedent and a consequence of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH). Furthermore, negative appraisals of voices have been theorized to contribute to the maintenance of AVH. Using the experience sampling method (ESM), this study examined the bi-directional relationship between NA and AVH, and the moderating effect of negative beliefs about voices.

Moment-to-moment interaction between affectivity and coping behaviours in bipolar disorder and the role of cognitive appraisals.

Background: Individuals with bipolar disorder respond to affective symptoms with a range of coping behaviours, which may further maintain the symptoms.

Aims: To examine moment-to-moment dynamics between affective states and coping behaviours, and to evaluate the role of cognitive appraisals of internal states as moderators.

Method: Forty-six individuals with bipolar disorder completed a clinical interview and an experience sampling assessment over 6 days.

Loneliness and the psychosis continuum: a meta-analysis on positive psychotic experiences and a meta-analysis on negative psychotic experiences.

There is an increase in interest in the relationships between loneliness and psychosis. The notion of psychosis continuum implies that psychotic experiences extend from clinical populations with psychotic disorders to non-clinical populations. This meta-analytic review aimed to examine the respective associations of loneliness with positive and negative psychotic experiences along the psychosis continuum.

The temporal relationship of daily life stress, emotions, and bowel symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome-Diarrhea subtype: A smartphone-based experience sampling study.

Background: The current study aimed to model the moment-to-moment relationship between daily life stress, emotions, and bowel symptoms among patients with irritable bowel syndrome-diarrhea subtype (IBS-D) in the flow of daily life using a smartphone-based experience sampling method (ESM).

Methods: Patients with IBS-D (N = 27) and healthy controls (HC; N = 30) completed ESM ratings of their real-time daily life stress, which was defined as subjective stress related to daily activities, both positive and negative emotions, as well as bowel symptoms eight times a day for 14 consecutive days, following a baseline interview measuring bowel and mood symptoms. Moment-to-moment association between ESM variables was tested within and between groups using multilevel regression modeling.

Moment-to-moment associations between negative affect, aberrant salience, and paranoia.

Introduction: There is an ongoing debate about whether negative affect are consequences or triggers of paranoid thinking. It has also been suggested that aberrant salience is central to the development of delusions. This study modelled the moment-to-moment relationships between negative affect, aberrant salience, and paranoia in acute inpatients with psychosis.

Negative Schizotypy and Altered Functional Connectivity During Facial Emotion Processing.

Background: Impairment in facial emotion perception is an important domain of social cognition deficits in schizophrenia. Although impaired facial emotion perception has been found in individuals with negative schizotypy (NS), little is known about the corresponding change in brain functional connectivity.

Methods: Sixty-four participants were classified into a high NS group (n = 34) and a low NS group (n = 30) based on their total scores on the Chapman scales for physical and social anhedonia.

Paranoia and anxiety: A cluster analysis in a non-clinical sample and the relationship with worry processes.

Background: Worry processes are implicated in paranoia and anxiety. However, clinical studies focused on patients with co-occurring paranoia and anxiety. As both paranoia and anxiety are distributed across clinical and non-clinical groups, an investigation on worry processes among non-clinical individuals will allow us to delineate the specific worry mechanisms in paranoia and anxiety respectively.

Associations between belief inflexibility and dimensions of delusions: A meta-analytic review of two approaches to assessing belief flexibility.

Objectives: Belief inflexibility has been suggested to maintain delusions. Different measures of assessing belief inflexibility have been developed, and it remains unclear whether patients with delusions display belief inflexibility similarly across measures. As delusions consist of multiple dimensions, the aim of this meta-analytic review was to examine how belief inflexibility is related to different aspects of delusions (conviction, distress, and preoccupation) and to compare these associations between interview-based and task-based measures of belief inflexibility.

Relationship between neuroticism, childhood trauma and cognitive-affective responses to auditory verbal hallucinations.

Neuroticism has been shown to adversely influence the development and outcome of psychosis. However, how this personality trait associates with the individual's responses to psychotic symptoms is less well known. Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) have been reported by patients with psychosis and non-clinical individuals.

'Jumping to conclusions' data-gathering bias in psychosis and other psychiatric disorders - Two meta-analyses of comparisons between patients and healthy individuals.

There has been an increase in attention to studying shared mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders. The 'Jumping to conclusions' (JTC(1)) bias, a tendency to make decisions with certainty based on insufficient information, has been reported in patients with psychosis, and process-based treatment protocols targeting this bias have recently been developed. This review aimed to investigate to what extent the JTC bias, measured by various tasks, is associated with psychotic disorders and other psychiatric disorders using a meta-analytic approach.