Unusual experiences and function in young people
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding unusual experiences and function in young people to develop a dynamic model of symptoms and function in young people with or without First Episode Psychosis
IRAS ID
208447
Contact name
Abigail Christine Wright
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Sussex
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 22 days
Research summary
Unusual experiences commonly occur within the general population, but the frequency and intensity of these are increased for people who have unusual distressing experiences, like unusual beliefs and perceptions. Whilst studies have demonstrated that the tendency towards seeing or hearing things in ambiguous situations may play a role, this factor alone cannot fully explain the maintenance of various unusual experiences. The way someone thinks about their experience may play a role. This is termed “metacognition” and involves the individual being aware of their experiences and abilities.
In addition, the way the individual thinks about their experience (metacognition) has been proposed to comprise of two different aspects: i) moment-by-moment appraisal of experience, and ii) overall belief about experiences. Both aspects have been demonstrated as poor in psychosis. It may be suggested that the linking processes between these aspects, maintains their poor ability to accurately think about their experiences.
This inability to think about their experiences (poor metacognition), either within-the-moment or an overall belief, may have two main outcomes: i) maintains unusual experiences, ii) leads to poor outcome. Previous research suggests poor metacognition predicts poor functional outcome (fewer hours of activity a week), but it is unclear how processes, connecting the within-the-moment beliefs and the overall beliefs, play a role and if they also predict subjective outcome.
This study will test a proposed dynamic model of the influence of the way someone thinks about their experience (metacognition) on unusual experiences, and functional and subjective outcome. In particular, this study will assess the associations between within-the-moment belief and an overall belief, and the processes connecting them. This study will compare participants with psychosis with healthy participants to identify key differences. Finally, this study will assess the impact on outcome, and whether the above relationships are present following a 2 year longitudinal follow-up period.
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0055
Date of REC Opinion
31 Jan 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion