Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, UKObjectives. Paranoia is a key symptom in psychosis and associated with a range of poor outcomes. Earlier life experiences increase vulnerability to paranoid thinking, and attachment theory has been proposed as a key model in explaining this causal pathway. Previous reviews highlight evidence of associations between insecure attachment styles and overall severity of psychotic symptoms. Studies report on associations between insecure attachment and paranoia, but to date, this literature has not been adequately synthesized. The aim of the current review was to report the strength and consistency of associations between paranoia and insecure attachment across published studies, and provide systematic appraisal of study quality.Method. We carried out a systematic review of electronic databases using search terms to capture concepts of adult attachment, paranoia, and psychosis. We pre-registered the review protocol and followed PRISMA guidelines.Results. Significant associations were reported in 11 out of 12 studies between an insecure attachment and paranoia, with associations remaining significant in studies that controlled for comorbid symptoms. The strongest, most commonly reported relationship was between an anxious attachment style and paranoia.Conclusions. The findings support the proposed role of attachment insecurity in the development and maintenance of paranoia in psychosis and highlight the need to address insecure attachment representations in the treatment of paranoia.
Practitioner pointsThere is consistent evidence of associations between insecure attachment style and paranoia. Insecure anxious attachment is more consistently associated with paranoia than an insecure avoidant attachment.
The National Health Service Institute for Innovation and Improvement was established to help the NHS to improve healthcare by rapidly developing and disseminating knowledge and evidence about new ways of working. One example is the Emergency and Urgent Care Pathway for Children and Young People which focused on providing high quality and safe healthcare for children and young people requiring urgent or emergency treatment for the most common illnesses and injuries. Monkey's Guide to Healthy Living and NHS Services was developed to increase awareness of acute health services in primary school-aged children. This free resource was posted to every primary school in England. A process and impact evaluation was undertaken to explore how the resource was being utilized during 2013-2014. A small number of in-depth case studies were developed involving classroom-based observations and teacher interviews along with a much larger online survey which was emailed to all primary schools in England. On the whole, the resource was viewed as useful, engaging, and informative; with children, teachers, and other professionals particularly valuing the monkey puppet, video clips, and teacher resources. The National Evaluation highlighted that most respondents integrated the materials into the curriculum, used them as a one-off lesson, or developed their own innovative and strategic approaches to make the best use of the resources; almost two-thirds of schools who responded to the survey felt the resources led to pupils knowing about the available NHS services and healthy lifestyles; over half felt pupils were now more informed about the most appropriate services to use.
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