Persecutory delusions and childhood emotional abuse in people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia

Abstract

The present research assesses the frequency of self-reported childhood trauma in individuals with and without persecutory delusions. Comparisons are made between reported childhood emotional, physical and sexual trauma in adults with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, with (n = 36) and without (n = 23) persecutory delusions. Those with persecutory delusions reported significantly higher levels of emotional abuse and there was a trend towards higher levels of emotional neglect. No differences emerged on total trauma score, physical abuse, physical neglect and sexual abuse. The study suggests that over and above a general association between childhood trauma and positive symptoms of psychosis, there may exist a specific link between persecutory delusions and childhood emotional abuse.

Keywords:

• childhood abuse
• childhood neglect
• persecutory delusions
• schizophrenia
• paranoia
• psychosis

Acknowledgements

Our thanks to Bharathi Bhandari, Stefan Gleeson, Nishchint Warikoo, Matthew Symons, Lisa Taylor, Eleanor Lucas, Ravi Mahendra, Soumya Ghosh, Anthony Mason, Raja Badrakalimuthu, and Claire Hepworth for data collection; and clients for their participation.