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Relationship between Self-Focused Attention and Mindfulness in People with and without Hallucination Proneness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2014

Salvador Perona-Garcelán*
Affiliation:
Hospital Universitario “Virgen del Rocío” (Spain)
José M. García-Montes
Affiliation:
Universidad de Almería (Spain)
Ana Mª López-Jiménez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Sevilla (Spain)
Juan Francisco Rodríguez-Testal
Affiliation:
Universidad de Sevilla (Spain)
Miguel Ruiz-Veguilla
Affiliation:
Hospital Universitario “Virgen del Rocío” (Spain)
María Jesús Ductor-Recuerda
Affiliation:
Hospital Universitario “Virgen del Rocío” (Spain)
María del Mar Benítez-Hernández
Affiliation:
Universidad de Sevilla (Spain)
Mª Ángeles Arias-Velarde
Affiliation:
Universidad de Sevilla (Spain)
María Teresa Gómez-Gómez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Sevilla (Spain)
Marino Pérez-Álvarez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Oviedo (Spain).
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Salvador Perona-Garcelán. Hospital Universitario “Virgen del Rocío”. Servicio Andaluz de Salud. Avda. Jerez, s/n. 41013. Seville (Spain). Phone: +34–954787414. E-mail: sperona@us.es

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to study the relationship between self-focused attention and mindfulness in participants prone to hallucinations and others who were not. A sample of 318 healthy participants, students at the universities of Sevilla and Almería, was given the Launay-Slade Hallucinations Scale-revised (LSHS-R, Bentall & Slade, 1985). Based on this sample, two groups were formed: participants with high (n = 55) and low proneness (n = 28) to hallucinations. Participants with a score higher than a standard deviation from the mean in the LSHS-R were included in the high proneness group, participants with a score lower than a standard deviation from the mean in the LSHR-R were included in the second one. All participants were also given the Self-Absorption Scale (SAS, McKenzie & Hoyle, 2008) and the Southampton Mindfulness Questionnaire (SMQ, Chadwick et al., 2008). The results showed that participants with high hallucination proneness had significantly higher levels of public (t(80) = 6.81, p < .001) and private (t(77) = 7.39, p < .001) self-focused attention and lower levels of mindfulness (t(81) = -4.56, p < .001) than participants in the group with low hallucination proneness. A correlational analysis showed a negative association between self-focused attention (private and public) and mindfulness (r = -0.23, p < .001; r = -0.38, p < .001 respectively). Finally, mindfulness was found to partly mediate between self-focused attention and hallucination proneness. The importance of self-focused attention and mindfulness in understanding the etiology of hallucinations discussed and suggest some approaches to their treatment.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2014 

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