Paranoia, functioning, and the moderating effect of well‐being in a community sample of adolescents
Paranoia, functioning, and the moderating effect of well‐being in a community sample of adolescents
Introduction: paranoid ideation is a relatively common experience in adolescence, yet it has not been well-explored in relation to psychological well-being and functioning in general population samples of youth. The current study aimed to investigate the relations between paranoia (operationalized as “persecutory ideation”), well-being, and two domains of functioning, social (e.g., interpersonal relationships) and role (e.g., school and home responsibilities), in adolescence.
Methods: this nonclinical sample of adolescents (n = 462, aged 14–17 years, 50% male, 50% female) was recruited from the United Kingdom and the United States via an online survey in 2022.
Results: correlations indicated significant associations between persecutory ideation, in the negative direction, and well-being, in the positive direction, with both social and role functioning. With respect to social, but not role, functioning, these associations remained significant in linear regression analyses controlling for the effects of depression, past-year bullying/victimization, and past-year adverse life events. A subsequent analysis indicated that the association between persecutory ideation and social functioning was moderated by well-being. Persecutory ideation was significantly associated with social functioning at the lowest level of well-being (1 SD below the mean), but not at moderate (mean) or high (1 SD above the mean) levels of well-being.
Conclusions: results suggest that among adolescents, persecutory ideation is negatively associated with functioning. Furthermore, novel findings suggest that well-being may buffer the association between persecutory ideation and social functioning. Therapeutic interventions targeting well-being may be helpful for youth experiencing paranoia, especially with respect to maintaining relationships and social connectedness.
adolescents, functioning, paranoia, well-being
871-878
Thompson, Elizabeth
fb2193e5-cbc5-4361-85dc-761cdf638bea
Kingston, Jessica
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Ellett, Lyn
96482ea6-04b6-4a50-a7ec-ae0a3abc20ca
Krkovic, Katarina
b3778182-56a5-40b7-b6a8-910bedd0f2ad
Velotta, Sydney
5325603c-7ec9-4f0b-aec1-eaeead17af4a
Rabasco, Ana
ecf06fbd-3cbf-47dd-bce3-da114366a4e3
Gaudiano, Brandon A.
0264c2f9-842d-4a7a-b52f-411821c30de2
7 April 2025
Thompson, Elizabeth
fb2193e5-cbc5-4361-85dc-761cdf638bea
Kingston, Jessica
2a9d5d69-00ed-4976-ab7d-2d8f3cafde47
Ellett, Lyn
96482ea6-04b6-4a50-a7ec-ae0a3abc20ca
Krkovic, Katarina
b3778182-56a5-40b7-b6a8-910bedd0f2ad
Velotta, Sydney
5325603c-7ec9-4f0b-aec1-eaeead17af4a
Rabasco, Ana
ecf06fbd-3cbf-47dd-bce3-da114366a4e3
Gaudiano, Brandon A.
0264c2f9-842d-4a7a-b52f-411821c30de2
Thompson, Elizabeth, Kingston, Jessica, Ellett, Lyn, Krkovic, Katarina, Velotta, Sydney, Rabasco, Ana and Gaudiano, Brandon A.
(2025)
Paranoia, functioning, and the moderating effect of well‐being in a community sample of adolescents.
Journal of Adolescence, 97 (3), .
(doi:10.1002/jad.12460).
Abstract
Introduction: paranoid ideation is a relatively common experience in adolescence, yet it has not been well-explored in relation to psychological well-being and functioning in general population samples of youth. The current study aimed to investigate the relations between paranoia (operationalized as “persecutory ideation”), well-being, and two domains of functioning, social (e.g., interpersonal relationships) and role (e.g., school and home responsibilities), in adolescence.
Methods: this nonclinical sample of adolescents (n = 462, aged 14–17 years, 50% male, 50% female) was recruited from the United Kingdom and the United States via an online survey in 2022.
Results: correlations indicated significant associations between persecutory ideation, in the negative direction, and well-being, in the positive direction, with both social and role functioning. With respect to social, but not role, functioning, these associations remained significant in linear regression analyses controlling for the effects of depression, past-year bullying/victimization, and past-year adverse life events. A subsequent analysis indicated that the association between persecutory ideation and social functioning was moderated by well-being. Persecutory ideation was significantly associated with social functioning at the lowest level of well-being (1 SD below the mean), but not at moderate (mean) or high (1 SD above the mean) levels of well-being.
Conclusions: results suggest that among adolescents, persecutory ideation is negatively associated with functioning. Furthermore, novel findings suggest that well-being may buffer the association between persecutory ideation and social functioning. Therapeutic interventions targeting well-being may be helpful for youth experiencing paranoia, especially with respect to maintaining relationships and social connectedness.
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Accepted/In Press date: 17 December 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 2 January 2025
Published date: 7 April 2025
Keywords:
adolescents, functioning, paranoia, well-being
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Local EPrints ID: 498443
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/498443
ISSN: 0140-1971
PURE UUID: 1378356e-8875-49e0-a48a-8eb714ab2296
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Date deposited: 18 Feb 2025 18:02
Last modified: 14 May 2025 02:05
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Contributors
Author:
Elizabeth Thompson
Author:
Jessica Kingston
Author:
Katarina Krkovic
Author:
Sydney Velotta
Author:
Ana Rabasco
Author:
Brandon A. Gaudiano
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