Paranoid Thoughts and Thought Control Strategies in a Nonclinical Population

Authors: Takashi Yamauchi, Anju Sudo, Yoshihiko Tanno

Abstract:

Recently, it has been suggested that thought control strategies aimed at controlling unwanted thoughts may be used to cope with paranoid thoughts in both clinical and nonclinical samples. The current study aims to examine the type of thought control strategies that were associated with the frequency of paranoid thoughts in nonclinical samples. A total of 159 Japanese undergraduate students completed the two scales–the Paranoia Checklist and the Thought Control Questionnaire. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis demonstrated that worry-based control strategies were associated with paranoid thoughts, whereas distraction- and social-based control strategies were inversely associated with paranoid thoughts. Our findings suggest that in a nonclinical population, worry-based strategies may be especially maladaptive, whereas distraction- and social-based strategies may be adaptive to paranoid thoughts.

Keywords: Nonclinical population, paranoid thoughts, thoughtcontrol strategies.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1328588

References:

[1] American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
[2] Johns, L., Cannon, M., Singleton, N., Murray, R., Farrell, M., Brugha, T., Bebbington, P., Jenkins, R., & Meltzer, H. (2004). Prevalence and correlates of self-reported psychotic symptoms in the British population. British Journal of Psychiatry, 185, 298-305.
[3] Ellett, L., Lopes, B., & Chadwick, P. (2003). Paranoia in a nonclinical population of college students. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 191, 425-430.
[4] Freeman, D., Garety, P., Bebbington, P., Smith, B., Rollinson, R., Fowler, D., Kuipers, E., Ray, K., & Dunn, G. (2005). Psychological investigation of the structure of paranoia in a non-clinical population. British Journal of Psychiatry, 186, 427-435.
[5] Fenigstein, A., & Vanable, P. (1992). Paranoia and self-consciousness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 129-138.
[6] Fowler, D., Freeman, D., Smith, B., Kuipers, E., Bebbington, P., Bashforth, H., Coker, S., Hodgekins, J., Gracie, A., Dunn, G., & Garety, P. (2006). The Brief Core Schema Scales (BCSS): Psychometric properties and associations with paranoia and grandiosity in non-clinical and psychosis samples. Psychological Medicine, 36, 749-759.
[7] Freeman, D., Dunn, G., Garety, P., Bebbington, P., Slater, M., Kuipers, E., Fowler, D., Green, C., Jordan, J., & Ray, K. (2005). The psychology of persecutory ideation I: A questionnaire survey. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 193, 302-308.
[8] McKay, R., Langdon, R., & Coltheart, M. (2006). The persecutory ideation questionnaire. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 194, 628-631.
[9] Yamauchi, T., Sudo, A., & Tanno, Y. (to be published). Perceptions of paranoid thoughts in a nonclinical group of college students. Psychological Reports.
[10] Wells, A., & Davies, M. (1994). The thought control questionnaire: a measure of individual differences in the control of unwanted thoughts. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 32, 871-878.
[11] Morrison, A. P., & Wells, A. (2000). Thought control strategies in schizophrenia: a comparison with non-patients. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 1205-1209.
[12] Jones, S. R., & Fernyhough, C. (2008). Thought suppression and persecutory delusion-like beliefs in a nonclinical sample. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 13, 281-295.
[13] Campbell, M. L. C., & Morrison, A. P. (2007). The role of unhelpful appraisals and behaviours in vulnerability to psychotic-like phenomena. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 35, 555-567.
[14] Yamauchi, T., Sudo, A., & Tanno, Y. (2009). Nihongo-ban Paranoia Checklist no inshi-kouzou oyobi datousei no kentou. (Factor structure and validity of Japanese-version Paranoia Checklist). Japanese Journal of Personality, 17, 182-193. (in Japanese)
[15] Yamada, N., & Tsuji, H. (2007). Negatexibu-na shikou-eno meta-ninnchi oyobi sono kontororu-houryaku II: Metacognitions Questionnaire oyobi Thought Control Questionnaire nihongo-ban-no sakusei. Nihon Shinri-Gakkai Taikai-Happyo Ronbunsyu, 71, 960 (abstract) (in Japanese, No English title)