Adolescent Paranoia: Prevalence, Structure, and Causal Mechanisms

Adolescence can be a challenging time, characterized by self-consciousness, heightened regard for peer acceptance, and fear of rejection. Interpersonal concerns are amplified by unpredictable social interactions, both online and offline. This developmental and social context is potentially conducive...

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Published in:Schizophrenia bulletin Vol. 45; no. 5; pp. 1134 - 1142
Main Authors: Bird, Jessica C, Evans, Robin, Waite, Felicity, Loe, Bao S, Freeman, Daniel
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Oxford University Press 11.09.2019
Subjects:
Adolescence
Adolescent
Affect
Bayes Theorem
Bullying
Causality
Child
Child development
Cognition
Cohort Studies
Female
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Paranoia
Paranoid Behavior - epidemiology
Paranoid Behavior - psychology
Paranoid Disorders - epidemiology
Paranoid Disorders - psychology
Peer Group
Peer relationships
Prevalence
Regular
Social Media
Social networks
Teenagers
United Kingdom - epidemiology
United Kingdom
youth mental health
persecutory ideation
directed acyclic graphs
affective symptoms
psychosis
ISSN:0586-7614, 1745-1701, 1745-1701
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Adolescence can be a challenging time, characterized by self-consciousness, heightened regard for peer acceptance, and fear of rejection. Interpersonal concerns are amplified by unpredictable social interactions, both online and offline. This developmental and social context is potentially conducive to the emergence of paranoia. However, research on paranoia during adolescence is scarce. Our aim was to examine the prevalence, structure, and probabilistic causal mechanisms of adolescent paranoia. A representative school cohort of 801 adolescents (11-15 y) completed measures of paranoia and a range of affective, cognitive, and social factors. A Bayesian approach with Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) was used to assess the causal interactions with paranoia. Paranoid thoughts were very common, followed a continuous distribution, and were hierarchically structured. There was an overall paranoia factor, with sub-factors of social fears, physical threat fears, and conspiracy concerns. With all other variables controlled, DAG analysis identified paranoia had dependent relationships with negative affect, peer difficulties, bullying, and cognitive-affective responses to social media. The causal directions could not be fully determined, but it was more likely that negative affect contributed to paranoia and paranoia impacted peer relationships. Problematic social media use did not causally influence paranoia. There is a continuum of paranoia in adolescence and occasional suspicions are common at this age. Anxiety and depression are closely connected with paranoia and may causally contribute to its development. Paranoia may negatively impact adolescent peer relationships. The clinical significance of paranoia in adolescents accessing mental health services must now be established.
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ISSN:0586-7614
1745-1701
1745-1701
DOI:10.1093/schbul/sby180