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Cited by 282Schizophrenia research and treatmentHallucinations in medical conditionsMental Health and Psychiatry

Healthy Individuals With Auditory Verbal Hallucinations; Who Are They? Psychiatric Assessments of a Selected Sample of 103 Subjects

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Sommer, I. E., Daalman, K., Rietkerk, T., Diederen, K. M., Bakker, S., Wijkstra, J., Boks, M. P. M.·2010·Schizophrenia Bulletin
DOI 10.1093/schbul/sbn130PMC PMC2879692
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Abstract

Epidemiological studies suggest that auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) occur in approximately 10%-15% of the general population, of whom only a small proportion has a clinically relevant psychotic disorder. It is unclear whether these hallucinations occur as an isolated phenomenon or if AVH in nonclinical individuals are part of a more general susceptibility to schizophrenia. For this study, 103 healthy individuals with frequent AVH were compared with 60 controls matched for sex, age, and education. All participants were examined by a psychiatrist using standardized diagnostic interviews and questionnaires. The individuals with AVH did not have clinically defined delusions, disorganization, or negative or catatonic symptoms, nor did they meet criteria for cluster A personality disorder. However, their global level of functioning was lower than in the controls and there was a pronounced increase on all subclusters of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) and the Peters Delusion Inventory, indicating a general increased schizotypal and delusional tendency in the hallucinating subjects. History of childhood trauma and family history of axis I disorders were also more prevalent in these individuals. We showed that higher SPQ scores, lower education, and higher family loading for psychiatric disorders, but not presence of AVH, were associated with lower global functioning. Our data suggest that AVH in otherwise healthy individuals are not an isolated phenomenon but part of a general vulnerability for schizophrenia.

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  • Non-clinical individuals are more likely to appraise their hearing voice's experience as benign, positive, and controllable, less hallucination-related distress, and with lower levels of negative beliefs about AVHs than people with psychiatric disorders.

    “Non-clinical individuals are more likely to appraise their hearing voice’s experience as benign, positive, and controllable [15], less hallucination-related distress [16], and with lower levels of negative beliefs about AVHs than people with psychiatric disorders [9, 17, 18].”

    From The “common” experience of voice-hearing and its relationship with shame and guilt: a systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as [9]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) describes the voices of the healthy participants as predominantly positive in emotional content, reports minimal interference for 91%, and characterizes their hallucinations as benign. It does not establish that they appraised their voices as more controllable or held fewer negative beliefs about AVHs than people with psychiatric disorders. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • Even in the case of voices related to negative emotional experiences, the content of the message is usually characterized by a contained level of hostility and negativity not to elicit severe states of impairment.

    “Even in the case of voices related to negative emotional experiences, the content of the message is usually characterized by a contained level of hostility and negativity not to elicit severe states of impairment [9].”

    From The “common” experience of voice-hearing and its relationship with shame and guilt: a systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as [9]

    The Hallucinations section reports that none of the 103 selected healthy voice-hearers experienced severe disturbance from their voices, including participants who heard negative messages. But the Discussion says those with negative-content voices had greater distress and lower functioning; the paper does not establish that such messages usually have a contained level of hostility or negativity that prevents severe impairment. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Other studies typically show a childhood or adolescent onset of persistent psychotic experiences in individuals with PEs.

    “replicating other studies that typically show a childhood or adolescent onset of PEs in these individuals 18,19,33”

    From Clinical, socio‐demographic and psychological characteristics in individuals with persistent psychotic experiences with and without a “need for care” (2016) · cites this paper as [33]

  • The finding that the non-clinical group was almost completely devoid of negative symptoms, bizarre behaviour and thought disorder is consistent with data from healthy voice-hearers.

    “consistent with data from healthy voice-hearers 33”

    From Clinical, socio‐demographic and psychological characteristics in individuals with persistent psychotic experiences with and without a “need for care” (2016) · cites this paper as [33]

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. First MB, Spitzer RL, Gibbon M. Structured Clinical Inter- view for Personality Disorder (SCID-II): multi-site test-retest reliability study. J Pers Disorder. 1995;9:92-104.
  2. Peters ER, Joseph SA, Day S, Garety PA. Measurement de- lusional ideation, the 21 item version of the Petersen Delusion Inventory. Schizophr Bull. 2004;30:1005-1022.
  3. Sperry L. 2003. Handbook on Diagnosis and Treatment for DSM-IV-R Personality Disorder. New York: Brunner-Routledge.
  4. Young HF, Bentall RP, Slade PD, Dewey ME. Disposition towards hallucination, gender and EPQ scores. Pers Individ Diff. 1986;7:247-249.

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Authors
Sommer, I. E., Daalman, K., Rietkerk, T., Diederen, K. M., Bakker, S., Wijkstra, J., & Boks, M. P. M.
Affiliations
University Medical Center Utrecht (NL)
ORCID
Venue
Schizophrenia Bulletin
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2008-10-09
Volume
36
Issue
3
Pages
633-641
ISSN
  • 0586-7614 (ISSN-L)
  • 1745-1701
DOI
10.1093/schbul/sbn130
PMC
PMC2879692
OpenAlex
W2096067736
Cited by
282
References
34
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 22
FWCI
7.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Schizophrenia Bulletin (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hallucinations in medical conditions
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Mental Health and Psychiatry
Keywords
auditory verbal hallucinations
MeSH terms
Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Delusions, Female, Hallucinations, Humans, Interview, Psychological, Male, Middle Aged, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Psychometrics, Reference Values, Risk Factors, Schizotypal Personality Disorder, Social Adjustment, Linear Models, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Young Adult

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