Biomedical subjects

Peter Trower

Publications and source records attributed to Peter Trower.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Acting on command hallucinations and dangerous behavior: a critique of the major findings in the last decade.

Command hallucinations (CH) have recently become the focus of research into positive symptoms of schizophrenia. The importance of CH has become clear for theoretical and practical reasons, because CH are regarded as potentially the most dangerous symptoms of schizophrenia. The aim is to critically review research that has attempted to better understand CH and develop theories that may predict behavior and shape psychological treatments. This review draws together, presents, and critically discusses the current disparate body of literature produced (1990-2000) considering compliance with CH. The literature can be grouped broadly into three overlapping classes. (1) Studies testing for a relationship between CH and compliance. (2) Studies considering factors associated with acting on CH (mediating variables). (3) Studies that look for a relationship between CH and dangerous behavior. The body of literature is in its infancy and marred by methodological difficulties. Researchers have asked differing questions about different samples while hoping to provide similar answers. While acknowledging difficulties in interpreting the literature, themes do emerge. The weight of the evidence is that some individuals who hear commands will act on them. However, some studies show no link or only a weak link and although methodological errors account for some of the inconsistent results, there are also clearly individual differences. The relationship between command and action is more complex than many researchers have assumed. One conjecture is that the relationship is established via psychological processes or mediating variables which include beliefs about the voice and content of instruction. Prediction of compliance with commands is of further interest when dangerous behavior results. It is postulated that the issue of dangerousness is subject to the same mediating variables as other commands. It is clear however, that CH are not sufficient to produce action in isolation and that psychological processes mediate the process.

Acting Out↗

PubMed2004

Interpersonal and role-related schema influence the relationship with the dominant 'voice' in schizophrenia: a comparison of three models.

BACKGROUND: Auditory hallucinations in psychosis often contain critical evaluations of the voice-hearer (for example, attacks on self-worth). A voice-hearer's experience with their dominant voice is a mirror of their social relationships in general, with experiences of feeling low in rank to both voices and others being associated with depression. However, the direction of the relationship between psychosis, depression and feeling subordinate is unclear. METHOD: Covariance structural equation modelling was used with data from 125 participants diagnosed with schizophrenia to compare three 'causal' models: (1) that depression leads to the appraisal of low social rank, voice power and distress; (2) that psychotic illness leads to voice activity (frequency, audibility), which in turn leads to depression and the appraisal of voices' power; (3) our hypothesized model, that perceptions of social rank and social power lead to the appraisal of voice power, distress and depression. RESULTS: Findings supported model 3, suggesting that the appraisal of social power and rank are primary organizing schema underlying the appraisal of voice power, and the distress of voices. CONCLUSIONS: Voices can be seen to operate like external social relationships. Voice content and experience can mirror a person's social sense of being powerless and controlled by others. These findings suggest important new targets for intervention with cognitive and social therapy.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

The person in recovery from acute and severe psychosis: the role of dependency, self-criticism, and efficacy.

The role of 3 personality dimensions (i.e., dependency, self-criticism, and efficacy) in recovery from an acute and severe psychosis was examined. Conceptualizing psychosis as involving difficulties in establishing psychological boundaries, the authors hypothesized that dependency has a greater disruptive effect on recovery than self-criticism. Results of a reanalysis of longitudinal data (N = 76) of people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders during recovery from acute psychosis were consistent with this hypothesis: Dependency predicted depressive and negative symptoms, and, under low efficacy, perceived loss of independence and insight into the presence of the illness. These findings elucidate the central role of interpersonal relatedness as a foundation for self-definition in recovery from psychosis.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2004

Cognitive therapy for command hallucinations: randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Command hallucinations are a distressing and high-risk group of symptoms that have long been recognised but little understood, with few effective treatments. In line with our recent research, we propose that the development of an effective cognitive therapy for command hallucinations (CTCH) would be enhanced by applying insights from social rank theory. AIMS: We tested the efficacy of CTCH in reducing beliefs about the power of voices and thereby compliance, in a single-blind, randomised controlled trial. METHOD: A total of 38 patients with command hallucinations, with which they had recently complied with serious consequences, were allocated randomly to CTCH or treatment as usual and followed up at 6 months and 12 months. RESULTS: Large and significant reductions in compliance behaviour were obtained favouring the cognitive therapy group (effect size 1.1). Improvements were also observed in the CTCH but not the control group in degree of conviction in the power and superiority of the voices and the need to comply, and in levels of distress and depression. No change in voice topography (frequency, loudness, content) was observed. The differences were maintained at 12 months' follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the efficacy of cognitive therapy for CTCH.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Adapting to the challenge of psychosis: personal resilience and the use of sealing-over (avoidant) coping strategies.

BACKGROUND: Avoidance coping (e.g. sealing over) is common in people recovering from psychosis, but it is not understood why some individuals 'seal over'. AIMS: We examined the hypothesis that individuals who 'seal over' do not have the personal resilience to withstand this major life event. METHOD: Fifty participants were interviewed during an acute episode of psychosis and reassessed at 3-month and 6-month follow-up. Measures included psychotic symptoms, recovery style, service engagement, parental and adult attachment and self-evaluative beliefs. RESULTS: Sealing-over recovery styles are associated with negative early childhood experience, insecure adult attachment, negative self-evaluative beliefs and insecure identity. Insecure adult attachment was associated with less engagement with services. CONCLUSIONS: Sealing over was associated with multiple signs of low personal resilience in adapting to psychosis.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2003

Predicting engagement with services for psychosis: insight, symptoms and recovery style.

BACKGROUND: Treatment non-adherence and service disengagement are commonly attributed to impaired insight. There is evidence that recovery style (i.e. psychological adjustment) may underlie service engagement. AIMS: We examined whether insight, psychotic symptoms or individuals' recovery style ('integration' v. 'sealing-over') predicts service engagement. METHOD: Fifty patients with schizophrenia were assessed during acute psychosis and at 3-month and 6-month follow-ups. Measures included recovery style, psychosis symptoms, insight and service engagement. RESULTS: Sealing-over at 3 months following onset of an episode of psychosis predicted low service engagement at 6 months. Neither insight nor symptoms predicted engagement. The clear shift from integration to sealing-over within the first 3 months was independent of changes in symptoms or insight. Sealing-over between 3 and 6 months was associated with improvement in psychosis symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Recovery style contributed more to engagement than did insight, appears to be dynamic in the short term and is orthogonal to insight. Overall, this study demonstrated the importance of addressing psychological adjustment to psychosis as well as illness status when investigating treatment engagement in people with psychosis.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2003

The effects of the psychiatric label 'borderline personality disorder' on nursing staff's perceptions and causal attributions for challenging behaviours.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to investigate how the psychiatric label 'borderline personality disorder' (BPD) affected staff's perceptions and causal attributions about patients' behaviour. METHODS AND DESIGN: The study utilized a within-participants questionnaire methodology and participants comprised qualified mental health nursing staff. The questionnaire contained descriptions of challenging behaviour in which the patient was described with a diagnosis of depression, schizophrenia or BPD. Participants were asked to identify a likely cause of the behaviour and then on a Likert-type scale rate attributions of internality, stability, globality and controllability. In addition they recorded their level of sympathy with the patient and their optimism for change. RESULTS: Patients with a label of BPD attracted more negative responses from staff than those with a label of schizophrenia or depression. Causes of their negative behaviour were rated as more stable and they were thought to be more in control of the causes of the behaviour and the behaviour itself. Staff reported less sympathy and optimism towards patients with a diagnosis of BPD and rated their personal experiences as more negative than their experiences of working with patients with a diagnosis of depression or schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: Staff regard patients with a BPD label to be more in control of negative behaviour than patients with a label of schizophrenia or depression. In accord with Weiner's (1985) model, attributions of control were inversely related to staff sympathy. Addressing attributions of control may provide a means to modify staff sympathy towards patients with a diagnosis of BPD and counteract their negative experiences.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2002

Measuring vulnerability to threats to self-construction: the self and other scale.

Following a constructivist approach, we propose two dimensions or styles of self-construction that are related to different types of vulnerability to psychopathology. We have called these an 'insecure self' style associated with fear of exclusion, indifference, and rejection by significant others, and an 'engulfed self' style associated with fear of intrusion, control, and possession by significant others. In this paper, we report the psychometric properties of a new 14-item questionnaire, the Self and Other Scale (SOS), which is designed to measure the two types of threat vulnerability. We have produced two forms of the scale, one measuring frequency of beliefs, which was completed by 198 undergraduate psychologists, and one measuring endorsement of beliefs, which was completed by 179 undergraduate psychologists. The SOS has a 2-factor structure, as predicted from the theoretical model, and good internal reliability. We discuss the future development and use of the scale in research and clinical practice.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Contingent reinforcement or defending the self? A review of evolving models of aggression in people with mild learning disabilities.

This paper examines the changing approaches to working with people with a moderate to mild learning disability, who are frequently aggressive. Long-held assumptions about the lack of inter-personal understanding and impulsiveness continue to play a central role in clinical assessment and intervention for this group. Yet, there is a lack of controlled studies indicating the influence of such factors in frequent aggression. The dominant behavioural tradition has long encouraged such assumptions, but has focused on people with more severe disabilities where such assumptions are arguably more appropriate. The current review of the literature shows a clear evolution away from a strict behavioural approach towards cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) approaches that take account of the heterogeneous psychosocial causes of aggression. We find support for CBT in the child-development literature, which examines inter-personal difficulties from an information-processing perspective. Finally, we argue that much of the literature implicitly utilizes the concept of self, and we suggest that this should be made explicit in a reformulated theory of the 'person', incorporating the self concept and embedding individual cognitive processes and behaviour in a social context.

Journal Article↗