Subclinical psychotic like experiences and psychotic symptoms are differentiated by distress

: an analysis of community UK and Ireland survey data

Abstract

In the last two decades the study of Psychotic Like Experiences (PLEs) has gained considerable interest. It is believed these experiences might elucidate information regarding the mechanisms that are implicated in the development of psychotic disorders. PLEs and psychotic disorders have been demonstrated to share similar etiological risk factors, cognitive correlates and demographic qualities. More recently the psychosis phenotype is considered to be continuous in nature. It has previously been stated that the occurrence and frequency of PLEs, and the associated distress, will influence the position on this continuum. This thesis develops and tests this conceptualization of PLEs by specifically investigating a measure of distress, and how this incorporation affects the latent structure, and associations with known predictors and mental health problems. This work has investigated the validity of this conceptualization, using latent variable models, and established the, mediating effects of these PLE latent variables between risk factors and common mental health problems. The thesis investigates the specific associations between predictor variables and outcome variables and those PLEs associated with distress; results showed stronger associations between risk factors and common mental health problems with distressing PLEs compared to non-distressing PLEs. The results of the studies that comprise this thesis suggested that assessing PLEs as individual experiences, and their association with distress, provides valuable information to the understanding of PLE conceptualization. When examining how distressed an individual was by a PLE, a more detailed pattern of results emerges. The aetiology of PLEs and psychosis is complex, and multi-factorial. However, it is hoped that the results of this thesis will help acknowledge these as distinct clinically relevant experiences.

Date of Award	Jul 2021
Original language	English
Supervisor	Orla Mc Bride (Supervisor) & Mark Shevlin (Supervisor)