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    Psychotic experiences and negative symptoms in the community from adolescence to emerging adulthood

    Havers, Laura Kathleen (2022) Psychotic experiences and negative symptoms in the community from adolescence to emerging adulthood. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.

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    Abstract

    Psychotic experiences and negative symptoms (PENS) reported in non-clinical populations can be viewed as mild manifestations of clinical psychotic symptoms. PENS are reported across the lifespan. They are predictive of poor outcomes, particularly when they persist. Much of the literature has focussed on aggregated measures of psychotic experiences (PEs), and little is known about negative symptoms (NS). Given the known multidimensionality of PENS, this thesis investigates paranoia, hallucinations, and NS, as separate dimensions reported in the community. The focus is on the period from late adolescence to emerging adulthood, a stage of life when many mental health problems occur. Chapter 2 presents analyses that test for longitudinal measurement invariance of the PENS dimensions across the study period. Chapter 3 assesses the optimal form of growth for the PENS dimensions and estimates the sample-wide latent trajectories. Chapter 4 investigates latent heterogeneity in the development of the PENS dimensions. In Chapter 5, the emergent trajectory classes are investigated in terms of the extent to which they associate with background factors reported in childhood/adulthood and with a range of polygenic scores. In Chapter 6, the latent structure of NS is investigated. Associations between polygenic scores and the subdomains of NS are reported. This Thesis provides evidence that PENS dimensions show distinct characteristics, both in terms of development from adolescence to emerging adulthood, and in terms of the correlates that are associated with their development. Evidence is provided to suggest a multidimensional latent structure of NS, mirroring findings from clinical samples. The current findings highlight the value of taking a dimension-specific approach and using latent variable modelling to study PENS over time. Limitations and future research directions are discussed. The findings of this Thesis have implications for future research that aims to test theories relating to the development and maintenance of specific PENS dimensions.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Thesis
    Copyright Holders: The copyright of this thesis rests with the author, who asserts his/her right to be known as such according to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. No dealing with the thesis contrary to the copyright or moral rights of the author is permitted.
    Depositing User: Acquisitions And Metadata
    Date Deposited: 24 Oct 2022 15:35
    Last Modified: 01 Nov 2023 15:48
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/49548
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.18743/PUB.00049548

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