Insomnia and paranoia. by Freeman, D, Pugh, K, Vorontsova, N, Southgate, L

“…Insomnia is a potential cause of anxiety, depression, and anomalies of experience; separate research has shown that anxiety, depression and anomalies of experience are predictors of paranoia. Thus insomnia may contribute to the formation and maintenance of persecutory ideation. …”

Body image and paranoia by Waite, F, Freeman, D

“…<p>Paranoia builds upon feelings of vulnerability. Our clinical experience indicates that negative body image, including concerns regarding weight, may be one source feeling vulnerable and hence raise the risk of paranoia. …”

Interpretation biases in paranoia. by Savulich, G, Freeman, D, Shergill, S, Yiend, J

“…In a group comparison those with high levels of trait paranoia were negatively biased in their interpretations of ambiguous information relative to those with low trait paranoia, and this effect was most pronounced for material directly related to paranoid concerns. …”

The assessment of paranoia in young people: Item and test properties of the Bird Checklist of Adolescent Paranoia by Bird, JC, Loe, BS, Kirkham, M, Fergusson, EC, Shearn, C, Stratford, H, Teale, A-L, Waite, F, Freeman, D

“…In this study we provide an exemplar - with a paranoia scale for youth – for improving measurement precision for psychotic experiences using item response theory (IRT). …”

The structure of paranoia in the general population. by Bebbington, P, McBride, O, Steel, C, Kuipers, E, Radovanovic, M, Brugha, T, Jenkins, R, Meltzer, H, Freeman, D

“…These mapped onto four classes of individual respondents: a rare, severe, persecutory class with high endorsement of all item factors, including persecutory ideation; a quasi-normal class with infrequent endorsement of interpersonal sensitivity, mistrust and ideas of reference, and no ideas of persecution; and two intermediate classes, characterised respectively by relatively high endorsement of items relating to mistrust and to ideas of reference. CONCLUSIONS: The paranoia continuum has implications for the aetiology, mechanisms and treatment of psychotic disorders, while confirming the lack of a clear distinction from normal experiences and processes.…”

Concomitants of paranoia in the general population. by Freeman, D, McManus, S, Brugha, T, Meltzer, H, Jenkins, R, Bebbington, P

“…BACKGROUND: Paranoia is an unregarded but pervasive attribute of human populations. …”

Paranoia, persecutory delusions and attributional biases by McKay, R, Langdon, R, Coltheart, M

The effect of paranoia on the judging of harmful events. by Freeman, D, Evans, N, Cernis, E, Lister, R, Dunn, G

“…Paranoia moderated judgements of intent and blame motivation but not the degree of harm caused; high paranoia, relative to low paranoia, was associated with the unintentional scenario generating higher attributions of intent and blame and the intentional scenario generating lower attributions of intent and blame. …”

Adolescent paranoia: Prevalence, structure, and causal mechanisms by Bird, J, Evans, R, Waite, F, Loe, B, Freeman, D

“…This developmental and social context is potentially conducive to the emergence of paranoia. However, research on paranoia during adolescence is scarce. …”

How Cannabis Causes Paranoia: Using the Intravenous Administration of ∆9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to Identify Key Cognitive Mechanisms Leading to Paranoia. by Freeman, D, Dunn, G, Murray, R, Evans, N, Lister, R, Antley, A, Slater, M, Godlewska, B, Cornish, R, Williams, J, Di Simplicio, M, Igoumenou, A, Brenneisen, R, Tunbridge, E, Harrison, P, Harmer, C, Cowen, P, Morrison, P

“…Paranoia is associated with use of the most commonly taken illicit drug, cannabis. …”

Authors' reply to a comment on "Body image and paranoia" by Waite, F, Freeman, D

Explaining paranoia: cognitive and social processes in the occurrence of extreme mistrust by Freeman, D, Loe, BS

“…<p><strong>Background:</strong> Paranoia – incorrectly thinking that others are deliberating trying to harm you – causes distress, undermines social interactions, and leads to withdrawal. …”

Psychological investigation of the structure of paranoia in a non-clinical population. by Freeman, D, Garety, P, Bebbington, P, Smith, B, Rollinson, R, Fowler, D, Kuipers, E, Ray, K, Dunn, G

“… BACKGROUND: Previous studies of paranoia have assessed only limited numbers of paranoid thoughts, and have not considered the experience from a multidimensional perspective or examined the relationship between different suspicious thoughts. …”

Paranoia in patients attending child and adolescent mental health services by Bird, JC, Fergusson, EC, Kirkham, M, Shearn, C, Teale, A-L, Carr, L, Stratford, HJ, James, AC, Waite, F, Freeman, D

“…<br><strong>Objective:<br></strong> Paranoia may be particularly prevalent during adolescence, building on the heightened social vulnerabilities at this age. …”

The Dunn Worry Questionnaire and the Paranoia Worries Questionnaire: new assessments of worry by Freeman, D, Bird, J, Loe, B, Kingdon, D, Startup, H, Clark, D, Ehlers, A, Černis, E, Wingham, G, Evans, N, Lister, R, Pugh, K, Cordwell, J, Dunn, G

“…<br/><br/> <strong>Results</strong> A 10-item general worry scale (Dunn Worry Questionnaire; DWQ) and a five-item paranoia worry scale (Paranoia Worries Questionnaire; PWQ) were developed. …”

Height, social comparison, and paranoia: an immersive virtual reality experimental study. by Freeman, D, Evans, N, Lister, R, Antley, A, Dunn, G, Slater, M

“…Paranoia and social comparison were assessed. Reducing a person's height resulted in more negative views of the self in comparison with other people and increased levels of paranoia. …”

Virtual reality clinical-experimental tests of compassion treatment techniques to reduce paranoia by Brown, P, Waite, F, Rovira, A, Nickless, A, Freeman, D

“…Paranoia may build on negative beliefs held both about the self and others. …”

Self-Confidence and Paranoia: An Experimental Study Using an Immersive Virtual Reality Social Situation by Atherton, S, Antley, A, Evans, N, Cernis, E, Lister, R, Dunn, G, Slater, M, Freeman, D

“…Paranoia may build directly upon negative thoughts about the self. …”

The association between traumatic experience, paranoia and hallucinations: a test of the predictions of psychological models. by Gracie, A, Freeman, D, Green, S, Garety, P, Kuipers, E, Hardy, A, Ray, K, Dunn, G, Bebbington, P, Fowler, D

“…OBJECTIVE: The current study investigated the relationship between trauma and predisposition to hallucinations and to paranoia in a non-clinical sample. METHOD: A total of 228 students completed online measures of trauma, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schematic beliefs, perceptual anomalies, and predisposition to hallucinations and paranoia. …”

Cognitive Mechanisms of Change in Delusions: An Experimental Investigation Targeting Reasoning to Effect Change in Paranoia. by Garety, P, Waller, H, Emsley, R, Jolley, S, Kuipers, E, Bebbington, P, Dunn, G, Fowler, D, Hardy, A, Freeman, D

“…The primary hypotheses tested were that the reasoning training intervention, would improve (1) data gathering and belief flexibility and (2) delusional thinking, specifically paranoia. We then tested whether the changes in paranoia were mediated by changes in data gathering and flexibility, and whether working memory and negative symptoms moderated any intervention effects. …”