Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 345 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI, 02906, USA.
Psychosocial Research Program, Butler Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2024 Nov;52(11):1765-1779. doi: 10.1007/s10802-024-01228-3. Epub 2024 Jul 15.
Paranoid thoughts have been reported in 20-30% of adolescents, and preliminary research has shown that paranoia and psychotic-like experiences have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, previous research has typically used general measures to assess paranoia, rather than those specific to COVID-19, which may overlook particular facets of paranoia related to the pandemic and result in an under-reporting of paranoia prevalence rates during this time. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Pandemic Paranoia Scale for Adolescents (PPS-A), which was adapted from the original scale to be appropriate for younger respondents, and to assess the prevalence of pandemic paranoia among adolescents. Adolescents (N = 462) recruited on Qualtrics from the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) completed an online survey consisting of the PPS-A and measures of general paranoia and negative affect. A subset of adolescent's parents (N = 146) also completed an online survey providing dyadic data. Findings showed that the PPS-A shared the same three factor structure as the adult PPS (i.e., persecutory threat, paranoid conspiracy, and interpersonal mistrust) and across participant nationality, race, gender, and mental health diagnosis. It also demonstrated strong psychometric properties. The overall prevalence rate of pandemic-related paranoia among adolescents was 21% and prevalence rates were higher among US participants than UK participants. This study provides the most comprehensive psychometric evaluation of a pandemic paranoia scale designed for adolescents and highlights the continued prevalence of pandemic paranoia in this age-group nearly two years after COVID-19 began.
据报道，20%至 30%的青少年存在偏执思维，初步研究表明，在 COVID-19 大流行期间，偏执和类似精神病的体验有所增加。然而，以前的研究通常使用一般措施来评估偏执，而不是针对 COVID-19 的特定措施，这可能会忽略与大流行有关的偏执的特定方面，并导致在此期间偏执患病率的报告不足。因此，本研究旨在检验青少年大流行偏执量表（PPS-A）的心理测量特性，该量表是从原始量表改编而来，适合年龄较小的受访者，并评估青少年大流行偏执的流行率。在美国（美国）和英国（英国）通过 Qualtrics 招募的青少年（N=462）完成了一项在线调查，其中包括 PPS-A 以及一般偏执和负面情绪的测量。青少年的一部分父母（N=146）也完成了一项在线调查，提供了双元数据。研究结果表明，PPS-A 与成人 PPS 具有相同的三因素结构（即，迫害威胁、偏执阴谋和人际不信任），且在参与者的国籍、种族、性别和心理健康诊断方面均具有相同的结构。它还表现出很强的心理测量特性。青少年中与大流行相关的偏执总体流行率为 21%，美国参与者的流行率高于英国参与者。本研究提供了针对青少年设计的大流行偏执量表最全面的心理测量评估，并强调了 COVID-19 开始近两年后，这一年龄组中仍持续存在大流行偏执。
