Week 1.3.2: Psychological and Social Factors Flashcards
These include fleeting, short-lived hallucinations, low-level delusions, and strange beliefs.
They are less intense, frequent, and severe than what is required for a clinical diagnosis of psychosis.
Psychotic Experiences
Is not a completely separate category from normal experiences. Instead, it exists on a continuum, with psychotic experiences at the lower end and psychotic disorders at the extreme end.
Psychotic Disorder
Studies show that up to 10% of people might have these experiences.
Psychotic Experiences
They are associated with an increased risk of developing a psychotic disorder later on.
They share the same risk factors as psychotic disorders.
Psychotic Experiences
Can influence the likelihood of developing psychotic experiences or disorders.
These factors can be divided into those affecting neighborhoods or areas and those affecting individuals.
Social Risk Factors
What are area-level factors that can influence the likelihood of developing psychotic experiences or disorders?
Population Density: More people living close together can increase the risk.
Deprivation: Poorer areas have higher risks.
Social Fragmentation: Areas where people are less connected socially have higher risks.
Crime: High crime rates in an area can increase the risk.
Ethnic Density: The proportion of people from minority ethnic groups living in a certain area.
What are individual-level factors that can influence the likelihood of developing psychotic experiences or disorders?
Childhood and Adulthood: Studies look at different stages of life to understand risk factors.
Indicators of Risk: Signs that someone might be at higher risk.
Direct Measures of Experience: Actual experiences that contribute to risk.
What are fragmented areas?
Areas that have:
- High levels of geographic and social mobility.
- High levels of crime.
- High proportions of migrant groups.
- High proportions of single-person households.
- High proportions of rented accommodation.
The idea that individuals with mental disorders move to lower socioeconomic areas due to their illness.
Example: Someone with schizophrenia might end up living in a low-income neighborhood because their condition makes it hard to keep a job, leading to financial difficulties.
Social Drift
Difficult and unpleasant experiences or circumstances.
Examples: Living in rented apartments, low socioeconomic status, single-parent households, parental unemployment, and receiving welfare benefits.
Adversity
Difficult and unpleasant experiences or circumstances during childhood.
Examples: parental death, neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and peer bullying.
Childhood Adversity
Compare individuals with a disorder (cases) to those without (controls) to identify risk factors.
Case-Control Studies
Analyze data from a population at a specific point in time.
Cross-Sectional Studies
Follow a group of individuals over time to see how certain factors affect outcomes.
Proespective Studies
Psychotic Disorders VS Psychotic Experiences
Indeterminate Relationship: Psychotic experiences have an unclear relationship with psychotic disorders.
Association with Other Disorders: Psychotic experiences are also linked to depression and anxiety, making it hard to determine specific associations.W
Based on The E-Risk Study, what are negative experiences?
Accidents: Involvement in accidents.
Bullying: Being bullied by peers.
Maltreatment: Experiencing maltreatment (abuse or neglect).
Why do some negative experiences increase the risk of developing psychosis over others?
Events involving an intention to harm (bullying and maltreatment) may increase the risk of psychosis more than other types of negative experiences.
The combined effect of bullying and maltreatment is greater than the effect of each alone, suggesting an interaction between these factors
What is the association between sexual abuse and psychosis?
The increased risk of psychosis was significant only for the most severe forms of sexual abuse (involving penetration), not for less severe forms.
Difficult experiences or circumstances faced during adulthood.
Adult Adversity
Certain events, especially those involving harm or threat, were linked to a higher likelihood of psychotic experiences.
Life Events
Unfair treatment based on characteristics like race, ethnicity, or other factors.
Impact: Exposure can increase the risk of developing psychotic disorders
Discrimination
Verbal VS Physical Harassment
Found that physical racial harassment had a stronger association with psychotic disorders compared to verbal harassment
