Immersive virtual reality as a novel approach to investigate the association between adverse events and adolescent paranoid ideation

Charlotte Gayer-Anderson; Gemma Knowles; Stephanie Beards; Alice Turner; Daniel Stanyon; Sam Davis; Rachel Blakey; Katie Lowis; Lynsey Dorn; Aisha Ofori; Mar Rus-Calafell; Craig Morgan; Lucia Valmaggia

doi:10.1007/s00127-024-02701-6

Immersive virtual reality as a novel approach to investigate the association between adverse events and adolescent paranoid ideation

Charlotte Gayer-Anderson^*, Gemma Knowles, Stephanie Beards, Alice Turner, Daniel Stanyon, Sam Davis, Rachel Blakey, Katie Lowis, Lynsey Dorn, Aisha Ofori, Mar Rus-Calafell, Craig Morgan, Lucia Valmaggia

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Purpose: Paranoid ideation is common among adolescents, yet little is known about the precursors. Using a novel immersive virtual reality (VR) paradigm, we tested whether experiences of bullying, and other interpersonal/threatening events, are associated with paranoid ideation to a greater degree than other types of (i) non-interpersonal events or (ii) adverse childhood experiences. Methods: Self-reported exposure to adverse life events and bullying was collected on 481 adolescents, aged 11–15. We used mixed effects (multilevel) linear regression to estimate the magnitude of associations between risk factors and paranoid ideation, assessed by means of adolescents’ reactions to ambiguously behaving avatars in a VR school canteen, adjusting for putative confounders (gender, year group, ethnicity, free school meal status, place of birth, family mental health problems). Results: Lifetime exposure to interpersonal/threatening events, but not non-interpersonal events or adverse circumstances, was associated with higher levels of state paranoid ideation, with further evidence that the effect was cumulative (1 type: ϐ_adj 0.07, 95% CI -0.01-0.14; 2 types: ϐ_adj 0.14, 95% CI 0.05–0.24; 3 + types: ϐ_adj 0.24, 95% CI 0.12–0.36). More tentatively, for girls, but not boys, recent bullying was associated with heightened paranoid ideation with effect estimates ranging from ϐ_adj 0.06 (95% CI -0.02-0.15) for physical bullying to ϐ_adj 0.21 (95% CI 0.10–0.32) for cyber bullying. Conclusions: Our data suggest a degree of specificity for adversities involving interpersonal threat or hostility, i.e. those that involve unwanted interference and/or attempted control of an individual’s personal boundaries being associated with heightened levels of state paranoid ideation among adolescents.

Original language	English
Journal	Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Early online date	28 Jun 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-024-02701-6
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 28 Jun 2024

Keywords

Adolescence
Adversity
Aetiology
Bullying
Paranoid ideation
Virtual reality

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1007/s00127-024-02701-6Licence: CC BY

Immersive virtual reality as_Gayer-Anderson_publishedonline28June2024_Gold_VOR (CC BY)Final published version, 1.36 MBLicence: CC BY

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Gayer-Anderson, C., Knowles, G., Beards, S., Turner, A., Stanyon, D., Davis, S., Blakey, R., Lowis, K., Dorn, L., Ofori, A., Rus-Calafell, M., Morgan, C., & Valmaggia, L. (2024). Immersive virtual reality as a novel approach to investigate the association between adverse events and adolescent paranoid ideation. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-024-02701-6

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title = "Immersive virtual reality as a novel approach to investigate the association between adverse events and adolescent paranoid ideation",

abstract = "Purpose: Paranoid ideation is common among adolescents, yet little is known about the precursors. Using a novel immersive virtual reality (VR) paradigm, we tested whether experiences of bullying, and other interpersonal/threatening events, are associated with paranoid ideation to a greater degree than other types of (i) non-interpersonal events or (ii) adverse childhood experiences. Methods: Self-reported exposure to adverse life events and bullying was collected on 481 adolescents, aged 11–15. We used mixed effects (multilevel) linear regression to estimate the magnitude of associations between risk factors and paranoid ideation, assessed by means of adolescents{\textquoteright} reactions to ambiguously behaving avatars in a VR school canteen, adjusting for putative confounders (gender, year group, ethnicity, free school meal status, place of birth, family mental health problems). Results: Lifetime exposure to interpersonal/threatening events, but not non-interpersonal events or adverse circumstances, was associated with higher levels of state paranoid ideation, with further evidence that the effect was cumulative (1 type: ϐadj 0.07, 95% CI -0.01-0.14; 2 types: ϐadj 0.14, 95% CI 0.05–0.24; 3 + types: ϐadj 0.24, 95% CI 0.12–0.36). More tentatively, for girls, but not boys, recent bullying was associated with heightened paranoid ideation with effect estimates ranging from ϐadj 0.06 (95% CI -0.02-0.15) for physical bullying to ϐadj 0.21 (95% CI 0.10–0.32) for cyber bullying. Conclusions: Our data suggest a degree of specificity for adversities involving interpersonal threat or hostility, i.e. those that involve unwanted interference and/or attempted control of an individual{\textquoteright}s personal boundaries being associated with heightened levels of state paranoid ideation among adolescents.",

keywords = "Adolescence, Adversity, Aetiology, Bullying, Paranoid ideation, Virtual reality",

author = "Charlotte Gayer-Anderson and Gemma Knowles and Stephanie Beards and Alice Turner and Daniel Stanyon and Sam Davis and Rachel Blakey and Katie Lowis and Lynsey Dorn and Aisha Ofori and Mar Rus-Calafell and Craig Morgan and Lucia Valmaggia",

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doi = "10.1007/s00127-024-02701-6",

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Gayer-Anderson, C , Knowles, G , Beards, S, Turner, A, Stanyon, D, Davis, S, Blakey, R, Lowis, K, Dorn, L, Ofori, A, Rus-Calafell, M, Morgan, C & Valmaggia, L 2024, 'Immersive virtual reality as a novel approach to investigate the association between adverse events and adolescent paranoid ideation', Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-024-02701-6

TY - JOUR

T1 - Immersive virtual reality as a novel approach to investigate the association between adverse events and adolescent paranoid ideation

AU - Gayer-Anderson, Charlotte

AU - Knowles, Gemma

AU - Beards, Stephanie

AU - Turner, Alice

AU - Stanyon, Daniel

AU - Davis, Sam

AU - Blakey, Rachel

AU - Lowis, Katie

AU - Dorn, Lynsey

AU - Ofori, Aisha

AU - Rus-Calafell, Mar

AU - Morgan, Craig

AU - Valmaggia, Lucia

PY - 2024/6/28

Y1 - 2024/6/28

N2 - Purpose: Paranoid ideation is common among adolescents, yet little is known about the precursors. Using a novel immersive virtual reality (VR) paradigm, we tested whether experiences of bullying, and other interpersonal/threatening events, are associated with paranoid ideation to a greater degree than other types of (i) non-interpersonal events or (ii) adverse childhood experiences. Methods: Self-reported exposure to adverse life events and bullying was collected on 481 adolescents, aged 11–15. We used mixed effects (multilevel) linear regression to estimate the magnitude of associations between risk factors and paranoid ideation, assessed by means of adolescents’ reactions to ambiguously behaving avatars in a VR school canteen, adjusting for putative confounders (gender, year group, ethnicity, free school meal status, place of birth, family mental health problems). Results: Lifetime exposure to interpersonal/threatening events, but not non-interpersonal events or adverse circumstances, was associated with higher levels of state paranoid ideation, with further evidence that the effect was cumulative (1 type: ϐadj 0.07, 95% CI -0.01-0.14; 2 types: ϐadj 0.14, 95% CI 0.05–0.24; 3 + types: ϐadj 0.24, 95% CI 0.12–0.36). More tentatively, for girls, but not boys, recent bullying was associated with heightened paranoid ideation with effect estimates ranging from ϐadj 0.06 (95% CI -0.02-0.15) for physical bullying to ϐadj 0.21 (95% CI 0.10–0.32) for cyber bullying. Conclusions: Our data suggest a degree of specificity for adversities involving interpersonal threat or hostility, i.e. those that involve unwanted interference and/or attempted control of an individual’s personal boundaries being associated with heightened levels of state paranoid ideation among adolescents.

AB - Purpose: Paranoid ideation is common among adolescents, yet little is known about the precursors. Using a novel immersive virtual reality (VR) paradigm, we tested whether experiences of bullying, and other interpersonal/threatening events, are associated with paranoid ideation to a greater degree than other types of (i) non-interpersonal events or (ii) adverse childhood experiences. Methods: Self-reported exposure to adverse life events and bullying was collected on 481 adolescents, aged 11–15. We used mixed effects (multilevel) linear regression to estimate the magnitude of associations between risk factors and paranoid ideation, assessed by means of adolescents’ reactions to ambiguously behaving avatars in a VR school canteen, adjusting for putative confounders (gender, year group, ethnicity, free school meal status, place of birth, family mental health problems). Results: Lifetime exposure to interpersonal/threatening events, but not non-interpersonal events or adverse circumstances, was associated with higher levels of state paranoid ideation, with further evidence that the effect was cumulative (1 type: ϐadj 0.07, 95% CI -0.01-0.14; 2 types: ϐadj 0.14, 95% CI 0.05–0.24; 3 + types: ϐadj 0.24, 95% CI 0.12–0.36). More tentatively, for girls, but not boys, recent bullying was associated with heightened paranoid ideation with effect estimates ranging from ϐadj 0.06 (95% CI -0.02-0.15) for physical bullying to ϐadj 0.21 (95% CI 0.10–0.32) for cyber bullying. Conclusions: Our data suggest a degree of specificity for adversities involving interpersonal threat or hostility, i.e. those that involve unwanted interference and/or attempted control of an individual’s personal boundaries being associated with heightened levels of state paranoid ideation among adolescents.

KW - Adolescence

KW - Adversity

KW - Aetiology

KW - Bullying

KW - Paranoid ideation

KW - Virtual reality

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DO - 10.1007/s00127-024-02701-6

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AN - SCOPUS:85197933854

SN - 0933-7954

JO - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology

JF - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology

ER -

Immersive virtual reality as a novel approach to investigate the association between adverse events and adolescent paranoid ideation

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Keywords

UN SDGs

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