Hostname: page-component-5db58dd55d-xnzfm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-06-16T16:10:08.981Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Introducing the White Noise task in childhood: associations between speech illusions and psychosis vulnerability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2016

M. K. Rimvall ,
L. Clemmensen ,
A. Munkholm ,
C. U. Rask ,
J. T. Larsen ,
A. M. Skovgaard ,
C. J. P. Simons ,
J. van Os  and
P. Jeppesen
M. K. Rimvall*
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center, Mental Health Services, The Capital Region of Denmark, Glostrup, Denmark Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
L. Clemmensen
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center, Mental Health Services, The Capital Region of Denmark, Glostrup, Denmark Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
A. Munkholm
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center, Mental Health Services, The Capital Region of Denmark, Glostrup, Denmark Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
C. U. Rask
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Centre Risskov, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark Research Clinic for Functional Disorders and Psychosomatics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
J. T. Larsen
Affiliation:
The National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Centre for Integrated Register-Based Research (CIRRAU), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
A. M. Skovgaard
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
C. J. P. Simons
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands GGzE, Institute of Mental Health Care Eindhoven and De Kempen, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
J. van Os
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands Department of Psychosis Studies, King's College London, King's Health Partners, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
P. Jeppesen
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center, Mental Health Services, The Capital Region of Denmark, Glostrup, Denmark Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr M. K. Rimvall, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center, Mental Health Services, The Capital Region of Denmark and Department Glostrup, Nordre Ringvej 69, Kirsebærhuset, 2600, Glostrup, Denmark. (Email: martin.kristian.rimvall@regionh.dk)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are common during development and may arise due to dysregulation in top-down processing of sensory input. This study was designed to examine the frequency and correlates of speech illusions measured using the White Noise (WN) task in children from the general population. Associations between speech illusions and putative risk factors for psychotic disorder and negative affect were examined.

Method

A total of 1486 children aged 11–12 years of the Copenhagen Child Cohort 2000 were examined with the WN task. Psychotic experiences and negative affect were determined using the Kiddie-SADS-PL. Register data described family history of mental disorders. Exaggerated Theory of Mind functioning (hyper-ToM) was measured by the ToM Storybook Frederik.

Results

A total of 145 (10%) children experienced speech illusions (hearing speech in the absence of speech stimuli), of which 102 (70%) experienced illusions perceived by the child as positive or negative (affectively salient). Experiencing hallucinations during the last month was associated with affectively salient speech illusions in the WN task [general cognitive ability: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.01, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03–3.93]. Negative affect, both last month and lifetime, was also associated with affectively salient speech illusions (aOR 2.01, 95% CI 1.05–3.83 and aOR 1.79, 95% CI 1.11–2.89, respectively). Speech illusions were not associated with delusions, hyper-ToM or family history of mental disorders.

Conclusions

Speech illusions were elicited in typically developing children in a WN-test paradigm, and point to an affective pathway to AVH mediated by dysregulation in top-down processing of sensory input.

Keywords

Experimental designpreadolescencepsychosispsychotic experiences

Information

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 46 , Issue 13 , October 2016 , pp. 2731 - 2740
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Aleman, A, Bocker, KB, Hijman, R, de Haan, EH, Kahn, RS (2003). Cognitive basis of hallucinations in schizophrenia: role of top-down information processing. Schizophrenia Research 64, 175–185.Google Scholar
Badcock, JC, Hugdahl, K (2012). Cognitive mechanisms of auditory verbal hallucinations in psychotic and non-psychotic groups. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Review 36, 431–438.Google Scholar
Bartels-Velthuis, AA, Blijd-Hoogewys, EM, van Os, J (2011 a). Better theory-of-mind skills in children hearing voices mitigate the risk of secondary delusion formation. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 124, 193–197.Google Scholar
Bartels-Velthuis, AA, Jenner, JA, van de Willige, G, van Os, J, Wiersma, D (2010). Prevalence and correlates of auditory vocal hallucinations in middle childhood. British Journal of Psychiatry 196, 41–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bartels-Velthuis, AA, van de Willige, G, Jenner, JA, van Os, J, Wiersma, D (2011 b). Course of auditory vocal hallucinations in childhood: 5-year follow-up study. British Journal of Psychiatry 199, 296–302.Google Scholar
Behrendt, RP (1998). Underconstrained perception: a theoretical approach to the nature and function of verbal hallucinations. Comprehensive Psychiatry 39, 236–248.Google Scholar
Blijd-Hoogewys, EMA, Bartels-Velthuis, AA (2007). ToM Storybook Frank: a Theory-of-Mind Task for 10–14 Year Old Children. University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen: Groningen.Google Scholar
Catalan, A, Simons, CJ, Bustamante, S, Drukker, M, Madrazo, A, de Artaza, MG, Gorostiza, I, van Os, J, Gonzalez-Torres, MA (2014). Novel evidence that attributing affectively salient signal to random noise is associated with psychosis. PLoS ONE 9, e102520.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chiappelli, J, Kochunov, P, DeRiso, K, Thangavelu, K, Sampath, H, Muellerklein, F, Nugent, KL, Postolache, TT, Carpenter, WT Jr., Hong, LE (2014). Testing trait depression as a potential clinical domain in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research 159, 243–248.Google Scholar
Clemmensen, L, van Os, J, Drukker, M, Munkholm, A, Rimvall, M, Væver, M, Rask, C, Bartels-Velthuis, AA, Skovgaard, A, Jeppesen, P (2016). Psychotic experiences and hyper-theory-of-mind in preadolescence – a birth cohort study. Psychological Medicine 46, 87–101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clemmensen, L, van Os, J, Skovgaard, AM, Vaever, M, Blijd-Hoogewys, EM, Bartels-Velthuis, AA, Jeppesen, P (2014). Hyper-theory-of-mind in children with Psychotic Experiences. PLoS ONE 9, e113082.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daalman, K, Boks, MP, Diederen, KM, de Weijer, AD, Blom, JD, Kahn, RS, Sommer, IE (2011). The same or different? A phenomenological comparison of auditory verbal hallucinations in healthy and psychotic individuals. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 72, 320–325.Google Scholar
Daalman, K, Verkooijen, S, Derks, EM, Aleman, A, Sommer, IE (2012). The influence of semantic top-down processing in auditory verbal hallucinations. Schizophrenia Research 139, 82–86.Google Scholar
Fowler, D, Hodgekins, J, Garety, P, Freeman, D, Kuipers, E, Dunn, G, Smith, B, Bebbington, PE (2012). Negative cognition, depressed mood, and paranoia: a longitudinal pathway analysis using structural equation modeling. Schizophrenia Bulletin 38, 1063–1073.Google Scholar
Freeman, D, Dunn, G, Fowler, D, Bebbington, P, Kuipers, E, Emsley, R, Jolley, S, Garety, P (2013). Current paranoid thinking in patients with delusions: the presence of cognitive-affective biases. Schizophrenia Bulletin 39, 1281–1287.Google Scholar
Freeman, D, Pugh, K, Vorontsova, N, Antley, A, Slater, M (2010). Testing the continuum of delusional beliefs: an experimental study using virtual reality. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 119, 83–92.Google Scholar
Galdos, M, Simons, C, Fernandez-Rivas, A, Wichers, M, Peralta, C, Lataster, T, Amer, G, Myin-Germeys, I, Allardyce, J, Gonzalez-Torres, MA, van Os, J (2011). Affectively salient meaning in random noise: a task sensitive to psychosis liability. Schizophrenia Bulletin 37, 1179–1186.Google Scholar
Holt, DJ, Titone, D, Long, LS, Goff, DC, Cather, C, Rauch, SL, Judge, A, Kuperberg, GR (2006). The misattribution of salience in delusional patients with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research 83, 247–256.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jardri, R, Bartels-Velthuis, AA, Debbane, M, Jenner, JA, Kelleher, I, Dauvilliers, Y, Plazzi, G, Demeulemeester, M, David, CN, Rapoport, J, Dobbelaere, D, Escher, S, Fernyhough, C (2014). From phenomenology to neurophysiological understanding of hallucinations in children and adolescents. Schizophrenia Bulletin 40(Suppl. 4), S221–S232.Google Scholar
Jeppesen, P, Clemmensen, L, Munkholm, A, Rimvall, MK, Rask, CU, Jorgensen, T, Larsen, JT, Petersen, L, van, OJ, Skovgaard, AM (2015 a). Psychotic experiences co-occur with sleep problems, negative affect and mental disorders in preadolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 56, 558–565.Google Scholar
Jeppesen, P, Larsen, JT, Clemmensen, L, Munkholm, A, Rimvall, MK, Rask, CU, van, OJ, Petersen, L, Skovgaard, AM (2015 b). The CCC2000 birth cohort study of register-based family history of mental disorders and psychotic experiences in offspring. Schizophrenia Bulletin 41, 1084–1094.Google Scholar
Johns, LC, van Os, J (2001). The continuity of psychotic experiences in the general population. Clinical Psychology Review 21, 1125–1141.Google Scholar
Kapur, S (2003). Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry 160, 13–23.Google Scholar
Kaufman, J, Birmaher, B, Brent, D, Rao, U, Flynn, C, Moreci, P, Williamson, D, Ryan, N (1997). Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children-present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL): initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 36, 980–988.Google Scholar
Kaymaz, N, van Os, J (2010). Extended psychosis pehonotype – yes: single continuum – unlikely. Psychological Medicine 40, 1963–1966.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelleher, I, Cannon, M (2011). Psychotic-like experiences in the general population: characterizing a high-risk group for psychosis. Psychological Medicine 41, 1–6.Google Scholar
Kelleher, I, Wigman, JTW, Harley, M, O'Hanlon, E, Coughlan, H, Rawdon, C, Murphy, J, Power, E, Higgins, NM, Cannon, M (2015). Psychotic experiences in the population: association with functioning and mental distress. Schizophrenia Research 165, 9–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krabbendam, L, Myin-Germeys, I, Hanssen, M, Bijl, RV, de Graaf, R, Vollebergh, W, Bak, M, van Os, J (2004). Hallucinatory experiences and onset of psychotic disorder: evidence that the risk is mediated by delusion formation. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 110, 264–272.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Myin-Germeys, I, Peeters, F, Havermans, R, Nicolson, NA, DeVries, MW, Delespaul, P, van Os, J (2003). Emotional reactivity to daily life stress in psychosis and affective disorder: an experience sampling study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 107, 124–131.Google Scholar
Myin-Germeys, I, van Os, J (2007). Stress-reactivity in psychosis: evidence for an affective pathway to psychosis. Clinical Psychology Review 27, 409–424.Google Scholar
Oorschot, M, Kwapil, T, Delespaul, P, Myin-Germeys, I (2009). Momentary assessment research in psychosis. Psychological Assessment 21, 498–505.Google Scholar
Peters, E, Day, S, McKenna, J, Orbach, G (1999). Delusional ideation in religious and psychotic populations. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 38, 83–96.Google Scholar
Rubio, JM, Sanjuan, J, Florez-Salamanca, L, Cuesta, MJ (2012). Examining the course of hallucinatory experiences in children and adolescents: a systematic review. Schizophrenia Research 138, 248–254.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Skovgaard, AM, Olsen, EM, Houmann, T, Christiansen, E, Samberg, V, Lichtenberg, A, Jorgensen, T (2005). The Copenhagen County child cohort: design of a longitudinal study of child mental health. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 33, 197–202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smeets, F, Lataster, T, Dominguez, MD, Hommes, J, Lieb, R, Wittchen, HU, van Os, J (2012). Evidence that onset of psychosis in the population reflects early hallucinatory experiences that through environmental risks and affective dysregulation become complicated by delusions. Schizophrenia Bulletin 38, 531–542.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smeets, F, Lataster, T, Van Winkel, R, de Graaf, R, Ten, HM, van Os, J (2013). Testing the hypothesis that psychotic illness begins when subthreshold hallucinations combine with delusional ideation. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 127, 34–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, B, Fowler, DG, Freeman, D, Bebbington, P, Bashforth, H, Garety, P, Dunn, G, Kuipers, E (2006). Emotion and psychosis: links between depression, self-esteem, negative schematic beliefs and delusions and hallucinations. Schizophrenia Research 86, 181–188.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Os, J, Linscott, RJ, Myin-Germeys, I, Delespaul, P, Krabbendam, L (2009). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the psychosis continuum: evidence for a psychosis proneness-persistence-impairment model of psychotic disorder. Psychological Medicine 39, 179–195.Google Scholar
van Rossum, I, Dominguez, MD, Lieb, R, Wittchen, HU, van Os, J (2011). Affective dysregulation and reality distortion: a 10-year prospective study of their association and clinical relevance. Schizophrenia Bulletin 37, 561–571.Google Scholar
Vercammen, A, de Haan, EHF, Aleman, A (2008). Hearing a voice in the noise: auditory hallucinations and speech perception. Psychological Medicine 38, 1177–1184.Google Scholar
Waters, F, Woodward, T, Allen, P, Aleman, A, Sommer, I (2012). Self-recognition deficits in schizophrenia patients with auditory hallucinations: a meta-analysis of the literature. Schizophrenia Bulletin 38, 741–750.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D (2003). WISC-IV Technical and Interpretive Manual. The Psychological Corporation: San Antonio, TX.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Rimvall supplementary material

Table S1

Download Rimvall supplementary material(File)
File 17.9 KB