Persecutory ideation and anomalous perceptual experiences in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak in France: what's left one month later?
Aims: Beyond the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the public's health, the length of lockdown and its possible psychological impacts on populations around the world is heavily debated. However, the consequences of lockdown on psychotic symptoms have not yet been investigated. Methods: An online survey was run from April 13 to May 11, 2020; a total of 728 French subjects from the general population participated. We assessed the perceived impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, length of self-isolation, diagnosis/symptoms/hospitalisation related to the COVID-19 (oneself and family). Paranoid ideations and anomalous perceptual perceptions were assessed via the Paranoia Scale and the Cardiff Anomalous Perceptions Scale. Measures of negative affect, loneliness, sleep difficulties, jumping to conclusion bias, emotion regulation, and perseverative thinking were also included. Results: Final regression model for paranoia indicated that socio-demographic variables, loneliness, cognitive bias, anxiety, repetitive thoughts and hallucinations were associated with paranoia (R2 = 0.43). For hallucinations, clinical variables as well as the quality of sleep, behavioural activation, repetitive thoughts, and paranoia were associated with hallucinations in our sample (R2 = 0.27). Neither length of self-isolation nor the perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with psychotic experiences in the final models. Conclusions: No evidence was found between a significant impact of self-isolation on psychotic symptoms in the general population in France one month after the lockdown. It nevertheless confirms the preeminent role of several factors previously described in the maintenance and development of psychotic symptoms in the context of a pandemic and lockdown measures.