The Prevalence of Delusion-Like Beliefs Relative to Sociocultural Beliefs in the General Population

Abstract

Background: Delusions are defined as false beliefs different from those that almost everyone else believes. The aim was to develop a new measure (the Cardiff Beliefs Questionnaire, CBQ) to establish the range and prevalence of delusion-like beliefs (DLB) and compare these to other types of beliefs in the general population. Sampling and Methods: A total of 1,000 participants completed the CBQ, which uniquely assesses a broader range of currently held beliefs [delusion-like (bizarre and non-bizarre), paranormal and religious and general political/social beliefs) using this large stratified sample. Results: Strong belief in 1 or more DLB was reported by 39% of the participants (91% reporting ‘weak’, ‘moderate’ or ‘strong’ belief in at least 1 DLB). Moreover, 25% endorsed at least 1 bizarre DLB (76% one or more at any strength). Endorsements of DLB were strongly correlated with paranormal and religious beliefs but not general political/social beliefs. Conclusions: Both bizarre and non-bizarre DLB are frequently found in the general population, lending support to the psychosis continuum account and need to revise key clinical criteria used to diagnose delusions. The good psychometric properties demonstrated by the CBQ indicate that this measure is a useful tool to investigate the wider continuum of beliefs held in the general population.

Using Co-Occurrence to Evaluate Belief Coherence in a Large Non Clinical Sample

“…As predicted, beliefs within thematic groups were more likely to co-occur more than expected by chance than those between groups. The findings also support previous results [22], indicating that the belief groups with delusion-like, paranormal and religious content comprised items that were more likely to co-occur together, predicted given the strong and reliable association between delusions and paranormal beliefs [23]–[26]. Societal/cultural belief items predictably showed less association with beliefs from the other groups.…”

“…Preliminary support for co-occurrence between thematic groups of beliefs was reported by Pechey and Halligan [22], who showed that participants’ responses to items within a thematic category of belief (delusion-like beliefs, paranormal and religious beliefs, or societal/cultural beliefs) largely correlated highly with each other (using Cronbach’s alpha) in a large sample of non-patient subjects. Correlational analyses between categories, however, showed that while different belief types (DLB and P&RB) were significantly correlated, societal/cultural beliefs (SCB) were different and largely unrelated.…”

“…Respondents are offered 5 response options: ‘Do not believe’, ‘Don’t know’, ‘Weakly believe’, ‘Moderately believe’, ‘Strongly believe’. The CBQ has good reliability and validity [22].…”

Collaborative Empiricism in Cognitive Therapy for Psychosis: A Practice Guide

“…There are many such studies now, all of which provide strong support for the notion that supposedly unusual experiences and beliefs are in fact remarkably common (Nuevo et al, 2012;Pechey & Halligan, 2011, in press), supporting the idea of a psychosis continuum (British Psychological Society, 2000;Strauss, 1969). One recent multinational study of 256,000 healthy individuals found around 1 in 8 reported at least one psychotic symptom, while a recent UK study of 1,000 people found 26% endorsed supposedly bizarre beliefs (Pechey & Halligan, 2011), with 48% reporting they experienced psychotic-like experiences at least sometimes or often (Pechey & Halligan, in press). Although there are still some dissenting voices (David, 2010), the continuum model of psychosis is now commonly accepted ( van Os, Hanssen, Bijl, & Ravelli, 2000; van Os, Linscott, MyinGermeys, Delespaul, & Krabbendam, 2009).…”

Hétköznapi gyanakvás: életünk a paranoia

“…A téveszmeszerű elképzelé sek (delusionlike beliefs -DLB) előfordulásának szűrését 1000 lakossági résztvevőnél végezték el, akiknek 39%a jelzett legalább 1 erős fokú DLBt, 25%a legalább 1 erős fokú bizarr téveszmét és 76%a pedig, ha az enyhe fokozatokat is számításba vették. Véleményük szerint téveszmeszerű gondolkodás gyakori az átlagpopuláció ban, és a pszichózis kontinuum jellegére utal [44].…”