Abstract
This study was designed to ascertain the associations between public and private self-focused attention and individuals’ relationships with their voices (auditory verbal hallucinations). A sample of 60 subjects with psychiatric disorders who heard voices were given a series of scales to measure their relationship with their voices, self-focused attention, depression and anxiety. A significant association was found between the relational style (dominance, intrusiveness and distance of voices) on one hand and private and public self-focused attention on the other. Voice dominance predicts the scores on the private and public self-focused attention scales. Finally, public self-focused attention mediated the relationship between voice dominance and anxiety. The theoretical and clinical implications of the results are discussed.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.