Assessing relationships with auditory hallucinations
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development of an assessment of relationships with auditory hallucinations: Voice-Hearing Experiences and Relationships Scale (V-HEARS).
IRAS ID
252214
Contact name
William Sellwood
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Lancaster University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
n/a, n/a
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 31 days
Research summary
Hearing things (such as voices) that other people cannot hear is a common experience for people affected by psychosis. There are emerging data suggesting that the relationship a person has with voices that they hear is an important factor. Improving this relationship may result in better outcomes for the voice hearer.
There have been many measures developed to assess the severity and impact of hearing voices. However, very few measures have focused on a person’s relationship with their voices. The measures which have been developed to assess relationships between voices and the voice hearer have been based on a narrow conceptualisation of this relationship. Namely, these measures have focused on the perceived power difference between the voice and the person experiencing the voice and how emotionally connected someone is to their voices. This approach has been criticised for being too narrow and not assessing the impact of the client’s experience of the dialogue (e.g. content, emotional context, interpretation, impact on the voice-hearer relationship). This study will attempt to address this need by developing a broader assessment of the relationships that someone has with their voices. This measure will be based on the recommendations of experts (by lived and professional experience) in order to assess the salient aspects of the voice and hearer relationship.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NW/0545
Date of REC Opinion
15 Oct 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion