No abstract

Paranoid thought is one of the most common symptoms in psychiatric disorders. The Paranoia Checklist is a brief screening and diagnostic tool for clinical and subclinical paranoia. It has been used in research, clinical, and non-clinical settings. The Paranoia Checklist has not had its validity examined in university settings in Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the validation of the Farsi version of Paranoia Checklist in a randomized cluster sample of 365 Iranian volunteer college students selected from the Payame Noor University of Mashhad in Iran. They completed the Paranoia Checklist, the General Paranoia Scale, and the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL-90-R). The mean score of the Paranoia Checklist was 35.50 (SD = 7.21). The Cronbach's α for the Paranoia Checklist was .87, indicating high internal consistency. The Paranoia Checklist correlated .42 with the General Paranoia Scale, .38 with the SCL-90-R subscales of Anxiety (ANX), Hostility (HOS), and Paranoia Ideation (PAR), and .37 with the Interpersonal Sensitivity (INTS), denoting moderate construct and criterion-related validity. The results of the factor analysis of the Paranoia Checklist identified three factors associated with the paranoid thoughts. The Paranoia Checklist has a multidimensional structure, and adequate validity and reliability. It can be used in the non-clinical, clinical, and research settings to measure paranoia in Iran.

Background: According to threat anticipation cognitive model, anxiety is the main causal factor for Paranoia. Objectives: The study was designed to answer the question of whether anxiety-based cognitive behavioral therapy can reduce paranoid ideations. Methods: During a six-month period (April to September 2017) the female students of Mashhad Universities, Iran voluntarily participated in this study, of which 30 subjects with subclinical paranoid ideations were selected based on SCID-I, scoring 1 > in the SCL-90 questionnaire, and scoring 40 > in Paranoia scale. Fifteen subjects were determined for each group based on Cohen table and the probability of dropout. They were divided into two groups. Finally, eighteen participants completed all therapy and assessment sessions. Before and after the intervention, paranoid scale and work and social adjustment scale were used to assess paranoid ideations and performance impairments. Results: This study indicated a reduction in paranoid ideation (P = 0.000) and an improvement in general function (P = 0.001). Conclusions: This study could be promising research to design specific protocols for Paranoia in a non-clinical population.