Social environments and daily life occurrence of psychotic symptoms--an experience sampling test in a non-clinical population.

Background: If impairment in social cognition is an important feature of psychosis, characteristics of the social environment may influence the occurrence of psychotic symptoms. The aim of this study was to explore in a non-clinical population whether specific social environments modify the expression of psychotic symptoms in daily life.

Methods: The Experience Sampling Method was used to collect information on characteristics of the social company and of the daily life psychotic experiences of a sample of 79 students. The level of psychotic symptoms was measured using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI).

Results: Subjects with MINI psychosis criteria were at increased risk of experiencing unusual perceptions in the presence of non-familiar individuals, and at lower risk of experiencing strange impressions in the presence of family members or friends. Dynamic changes in the social company rather than the social company per se drive variation of psychotic experiences in daily life.

Conclusion: The data suggest that the earliest stages of expression of psychosis vulnerability are driven by subtle person-environment interactions in the stream of daily life.