Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-n8gtw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-10T19:25:09.742Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Five year follow-up of non-psychotic adults with frequent auditory verbal hallucinations: are they still healthy?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2016

K. Daalman ,
K. M. J. Diederen ,
L. Hoekema ,
R. van Lutterveld  and
I. E. C. Sommer
K. Daalman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Division, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands Altrecht Institute for Mental Health Care, Utrecht, The Netherlands
K. M. J. Diederen*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Division, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
L. Hoekema
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Division, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
R. van Lutterveld
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Division, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
I. E. C. Sommer
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Division, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr K. M. J. Diederen, Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK. (Email: k.diederen@gmail.com)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Previously, we described 103 adults (mean age 41 years) who experienced frequent, auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH), in the absence of a need for mental healthcare. Importantly, these adults were largely past the peak incidence age for psychosis (15–35 years). It is unclear if these older individuals with AVH are still at increased risk for psychosis or other psychopathology. To address this question, we conducted a 5-year follow-up of previously included individuals (103 with AVH, 60 controls).

Method

Eighty-one adults with AVH (78.6%) and forty-nine controls (81.7%) could be contacted and were willing to participate. Participants were screened for psychosis and a need for mental healthcare at follow-up using the Comprehensive Assessment of Symptoms and History interview (CASH). Need for mental healthcare was defined as a clinical diagnosis as identified using the CASH and/or treatment by a mental healthcare specialist. Phenomenology of AVH was assessed with the PSYRATS Auditory Hallucinations Rating Scale.

Results

Five individuals with AVH (6.2%) had developed psychosis and 32 (39.5%) had developed a need for mental healthcare. Voice-related distress at baseline significantly predicted need for mental healthcare. AVH persisted in most individuals (86.4%), without significant changes in phenomenology. None of the controls had developed psychotic symptoms, and need for mental healthcare (n = 6, 12.2%) was significantly lower in this group.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that frequent AVH in non-psychotic adults past the peak incidence age for psychosis constitute a rather static symptom and that individuals with AVH may be best viewed as situated on a need for care continuum.

Keywords

Hallucinationsneed for mental healthcarepsychosis

Information

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 46 , Issue 9 , July 2016 , pp. 1897 - 1907
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

Allardyce, J, Gaebel, W, Zielasek, J, van Os, J (2007). Deconstructing Psychosis conference February 2006: the validity of schizophrenia and alternative approaches to the classification of psychosis. Schizophrenia Bulletin 33, 863–867.Google Scholar
Andersen, SL, Tomada, A, Vincow, ES, Valente, E, Polcari, A, Teicher, MH (2014). Preliminary evidence for sensitive periods in the effect of childhood sexual abuse on regional brain development. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 20, 292–301.Google Scholar
Andreasen, NC, Flaum, M, Arndt, S (1992). The comprehensive assessment of symptoms and history (CASH). An instrument for assessing diagnosis and psychopathology. Archives of General Psychiatry 49, 615–623.Google Scholar
Bartels-Velthuis, AA, van de Willige, G, Jenner, JA, van Os, J, Wiersma, D (2011). Course of auditory vocal hallucinations in childhood: 5-year follow-up study. British Journal of Psychiatry 199, 296–302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beavan, V, Read, J, Cartwright, C (2011). The prevalence of voice-hearers in the general population: a literature review. Journal of Mental Health 20, 281–292.Google Scholar
Bernstein, DP, Stein, JA, Newcomb, MD, Walker, E, Pogge, D, Ahluvalia, T, Stokes, J, Handelsman, L, Medrano, M, Desmond, D, Zule, W (2003). Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Child Abuse and Neglect 27, 169–190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Browne, A, Finkelhor, D (1986). Impact of child sexual abuse: a review of the research. Psychological Bulletin 99, 66.Google Scholar
Carter, DM, Mackinnon, A, Howard, S, Zeegers, T, Copolov, DL (1995). The development and reliability of the Mental Health Research Institute Unusual Perceptions Schedule (MUPS): an instrument to record auditory hallucinatory experience. Schizophrenia Research 16, 157–165.Google Scholar
Copolov, D, Trauer, T, Mackinnon, A (2004). On the non-significance of internal versus external auditory hallucinations. Schizophrenia Research 69, 1–6.Google Scholar
Crippa, JAS, de Lima Osório, F, Del-Ben, CM, Da Silva Freitas, MC, Loureiro, SR (2008). Comparability between telephone and face-to-face structured clinical interview for DSM–IV in assessing social anxiety disorder. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care 44, 241–247.Google Scholar
Daalman, K, Boks, M, Diederen, K, de Weijer, AD, Blom, JD, Kahn, RS, Sommer, I (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, Diederen, KM (2013). A final common pathway to hearing voices: examining differences and similarities in clinical and non-clinical individuals. Psychosis-Psychological Social and Integrative Approaches 5, 236–246.Google Scholar
Daalman, K, Diederen, KMJ, Derks, EM, van Lutterveld, R, Kahn, RS, Sommer, IEC (2012). Childhood trauma and auditory verbal hallucinations. Psychological Medicine 42, 2475–2484.Google Scholar
de Weijer, AD, Neggers, SF, Diederen, K, Mandl, RC, Kahn, RS, Pol, H, Hilleke, E, Sommer, IE (2013). Aberrations in the arcuate fasciculus are associated with auditory verbal hallucinations in psychotic and in non-psychotic individuals. Human Brain Mapping 34, 626–634.Google Scholar
Diederen, KM, De Weijer, AD, Daalman, K, Blom, JD, Neggers, SF, Kahn, RS, Sommer, IE (2010). Decreased language lateralization is characteristic of psychosis, not auditory hallucinations. Brain 133, 3734–3744.Google Scholar
Diederen, KM, Neggers, SF, de Weijer, AD, van Lutterveld, R, Daalman, K, Eickhoff, SB, Clos, M, Kahn, RS, Sommer, IE (2013). Aberrant resting-state connectivity in non-psychotic individuals with auditory hallucinations. Psychological Medicine 43, 1685–1696.Google Scholar
Diederen, KMJ, Van Lutterveld, R, Sommer, IE (2012). Neuroimaging of voice hearing in non-psychotic individuals: a mini review. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Published online: 9 May 2012. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2012.00111.Google Scholar
First, MB, Spitzer, RL, Gibbon, M, Williams, JBW (1995 a). The structured clinical interview for DSM-III-R personality disorders (SCID-II). Part I: description. Journal of Personality Disorders 9, 83–91.Google Scholar
First, MB, Spitzer, RL, Gibbon, M, Williams, JBW, Davies, M, Borus, J, Howes, MJ, Kane, J, Pope, HG, Rounsaville, B (1995 b). The structured clinical interview for DSM-III-R personality disorders (SCID-II). Part II: multi-site test-retest reliability study. Journal of Personality Disorders 9, 92–104.Google Scholar
Fusar-Poli, P, Bonoldi, I, Yung, AR, Borgwardt, S, Kempton, MJ, Valmaggia, L, Barale, F, Caverzasi, E, McGuire, P (2012). Predicting psychosis: meta-analysis of transition outcomes in individuals at high clinical risk. Archives of General Psychiatry 69, 220–229.Google Scholar
Fusar-Poli, P, Borgwardt, S, Bechdolf, A, Addington, J, Riecher-Rössler, A, Schultze-Lutter, F, Keshavan, M, Wood, S, Ruhrmann, S, Seidman, LJ, Valmaggia, L, Cannon, T, Velthorst, E, De Haan, L, Cornblatt, B, Bonoldi, I, Birchwood, M, McGlashan, T, Carpenter, W, McGorry, P, Klosterkötter, J, McGuire, P, Yung, A (2013). The psychosis high-risk state: a comprehensive state-of-the-art review. JAMA Psychiatry 70, 107–120.Google Scholar
Fusar-Poli, P, Yung, AR (2012). Should attenuated psychosis syndrome be included in DSM-5? Lancet 379, 591–592.Google Scholar
Gaudiano, BA, Zimmerman, M (2013). Prevalence of attenuated psychotic symptoms and their relationship with DSM-IV diagnoses in a general psychiatric outpatient clinic. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 74, 149–155.Google Scholar
Haddock, G, McCarron, J, Tarrier, N, Faragher, EB (1999). Scales to measure dimensions of hallucinations and delusions: the psychotic symptom rating scales (PSYRATS). Psychological Medicine 29, 879–889.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hajebi, A, Motevalian, A, Amin-Esmaeili, M, Hefazi, M, Radgoodarzi, R, Rahimi-Movaghar, A, Sharifi, V (2012). Telephone versus face-to-face administration of the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, for diagnosis of psychotic disorders. Comprehensive Psychiatry 53, 579–583.Google Scholar
Hanssen, M, Bak, M, Bijl, R, Vollebergh, W, van Os, J (2005). The incidence and outcome of subclinical psychotic experiences in the general population. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 44, 181–191.Google Scholar
Jones, SH, Thornicroft, G, Coffey, M, Dunn, G (1995). A brief mental health outcome scale-reliability and validity of the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). British Journal of Psychiatry 166, 654–659.Google Scholar
Kessler, RC, Amminger, GP, Aguilar-Gaxiola, S, Alonso, J, Lee, S, Ustun, TB (2007). Age of onset of mental disorders: a review of recent literature. Current Opinion in Psychiatry 20, 359–364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kirkbride, JB, Errazuriz, A, Croudace, TJ, Morgan, C, Jackson, D, Boydell, J, Murray, RM, Jones, PB (2012). Incidence of schizophrenia and other psychoses in England, 1950–2009: a systematic review and meta-analyses. PLoS ONE 7, e31660.Google Scholar
Larkin, W, Read, J (2008). Childhood trauma and psychosis: evidence, pathways, and implications. Journal of Postgraduate Medicine 54, 287.Google ScholarPubMed
Malinosky-Rummell, R, Hansen, DJ (1993). Long-term consequences of childhood physical abuse. Psychological Bulletin 114, 68.Google Scholar
McCarthy-Jones, S (2011). Voices from the storm: a critical review of quantitative studies of auditory verbal hallucinations and childhood sexual abuse. Clinical psychology review 31, 983–992.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nayani, TH, David, AS (1996). The auditory hallucination: a phenomenological survey. Psychological Medicine 26, 177–189.Google Scholar
Nelson, HE, Willison, J (1991). National Adult Reading Test (NART). NFER-Nelson.Google Scholar
NIMH, Genetics Initiative (1992). Family Interview for Genetic Studies (FIGS) . National Institute of Mental Health: Rockville, MD.Google Scholar
Offen, L, Waller, G, Thomas, G (2003). Is reported childhood sexual abuse associated with the psychopathological characteristics of patients who experience auditory hallucinations? Child Abuse and Neglect 27, 919–927.Google Scholar
Phillips, J (2013). Conceptual issues in the classification of psychosis. Current Opinion in Psychiatry 26, 214–218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raine, A (1991). The SPQ: a scale for the assessment of schizotypal personality based on DSM-III-R criteria. Schizophrenia Bulletin 17, 555–564.Google Scholar
Read, J, van Os, J, Morrison, AP, Ross, CA (2005). Childhood trauma, psychosis and schizophrenia: a literature review with theoretical and clinical implications. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 112, 330–350.Google Scholar
Rohde, P, Lewinsohn, PM, Seeley, JR (1997). Comparability of telephone and face-to-face interviews in assessing axis I and II disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 154, 1593–1598.Google Scholar
Sommer, IE, Daalman, K, Rietkerk, T, Diederen, KM, Bakker, S, Wijkstra, J, Boks, MP (2010 a). Healthy individuals with auditory verbal hallucinations; who are they? Psychiatric assessments of a selected sample of 103 subjects. Schizophrenia Bulletin 36, 633–641.Google Scholar
Sommer, IE, Derwort, AM, Daalman, K, de Weijer, AD, Liddle, PF, Boks, MP (2010 b). Formal thought disorder in non-clinical individuals with auditory verbal hallucinations. Schizophrenia Research 118, 140–145.Google Scholar
van Lutterveld, R, van den Heuvel, MP, Diederen, KMJ, de Weijer, AD, Begemann, MJH, Brouwer, RM, Daalman, K, Blom, JD, Kahn, RS, Sommer, IE (2014). Cortical thickness in individuals with non-clinical and clinical psychotic symptoms. Brain 137, 2664–2669.Google Scholar
van Os, J, Kenis, G, Rutten, BP (2010). The environment and schizophrenia. Nature 468, 203–212.Google Scholar
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.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Verdoux, H, van Os, J, Maurice-Tison, S, Gay, B, Salamon, R, Bourgeois, ML (1999). Increased occurrence of depression in psychosis-prone subjects: a follow-up study in primary care settings. Comprehensive Psychiatry 40, 462–468.Google Scholar
Wing, JK, Babor, TT, Brugha, TT, Burke, J, Cooper, JE, Giel, R (1990). Scan: schedules for clinical assessment in neuropsychiatry. Archives of General Psychiatry 47, 589–593.Google Scholar
Woodward, TS, Jung, K, Hwang, H, Yin, J, Taylor, L, Menon, M, Peters, E, Kuipers, E, Waters, F, Lecomte, T (2014). Symptom dimensions of the psychotic symptom rating scales in psychosis: a multisite study. Schizophrenia Bulletin 40, S265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yung, AR, Nelson, B, Stanford, C, Simmons, MB, Cosgrave, EM, Killackey, E, Phillips, LJ, Bechdolf, A, Buckby, J, McGorry, PD (2008). Validation of ‘prodromal’ criteria to detect individuals at ultra high risk of psychosis: 2 year follow-up. Schizophrenia Research 105, 10–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar