title: Modelling the emergence of hallucinations: early acquired vulnerabilities, proximal life stressors and maladaptive psychological processes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The study aimed to expand upon existing findings on the vulnerability to psychosis by examining synergistic models of hallucination emergence. Hypothesised vulnerability factors were separated into three stages of vulnerability; early acquired and enduring vulnerabilities (heredity, childhood trauma, early cannabis use), proximal life stressors (life hassles) and psychological appraisals/coping (metacognitions/experiential avoidance).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were recruited to a non-clinical sample (N = 133) and a clinical sample of psychosis patients (N = 100).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Path analyses in the non-clinical sample indicated that experiences of childhood emotional trauma, in combination with subsequent experiences of life hassles, best predicted vulnerability to both hallucinations in general and auditory hallucinations specifically. This pathway was partially mediated by negative metacognitions. The models were then replicated in the clinical sample, with two notable differences: (1) childhood sexual trauma replaced childhood emotional trauma as the best enduring predictor in the clinical model. (2) Experiential avoidance replaced metacognitions as the best cognitive predictor of hallucinations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study's findings highlighted how vulnerability to hallucinations can occur developmentally across time, with early acquired vulnerability factors, combining additively with more proximal day-to-day factors and cognitive style, to propel a person further towards the formation of hallucinations.
authors: School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, 3086, Australia. Eliot.Goldstone@mh.org.au
authors: Eliot
authors: E
authors: Goldstone
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Farhall
authors: Ben
authors: B
authors: Ong
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult