title: Role of distress in delusion formation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Contemporary cognitive psychological theories suggest that distress plays a mediating role in delusion formation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study the amplifying role of distress from early perceptual intrusions to delusion formation.
  
  
  METHODS
  A general population sample of 7076 individuals was interviewed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) in 1996 (baseline), 1997 (T1) and 1999 (T2). At T2, clinicians also scored the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) item "unusual thought content". Analyses compared hallucinatory experiences with and without subjective distress at baseline for risk of delusion formation at follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Individuals experiencing hallucinations with distress, compared with those without distress had a fourfold increased risk of subsequent delusion formation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This finding corroborates the hypothesis that distress associated with early perceptual intrusions serves as a catalyst in the development of delusions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, PO Box 616 (DRT 10), 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Manon
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanssen
authors.forename: Lydia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Krabbendam
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Graaf
authors.forename: Wilma
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vollebergh
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Os
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D010054:Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; D003702:Delusions / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*