Psychiatrists and Psychologists

Statement of the Problem: Qatar has undergone recent rapid urbanization. We estimated: 1. the lifetime prevalence of three symptom profiles of psychotic experiences (PEs) [delusions only, hallucinations only, and both] in the general population of Qatar; and 2. Associations between PEs and both schizotypy (indicating genetic predisposition) and childhood trauma. We tested the hypothesis that lifetime prevalence of PEs would be associated with childhood trauma and schizotypal personality traits.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: An adult sample (N=1,353) were interviewed of whom 1,286 respondents completed all PEs questions. Iinterviews in Arabic and English included items from the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), childhood trauma (terrifying experiences, beatings, abuse) and PEs. We used multinomial logistic regression with PEs as dependent variable testing associations with childhood trauma and schizotypy.

Findings: 9.3% [95% CI: 7.4-11.4] of the sample experienced hallucinations and delusions combined; with overlapping prevalence of delusions only 11.6% [95% CI: 9.5-14.1] and hallucinations only 7.0% [5.5-9.2]. Adjusting for age and gender, the strongest association was between schizotypy score and mixed PEs versus no PEs [OR=16.57, p<0.001].

Associations were also observed for delusions only [OR=4.25, p<0.001] and hallucinations only [OR=2.41, p<0.001] versus no PEs. Exposure to two or more traumatic events in childhood was significantly associated with all profiles of PEs versus no PEs [ORs ranges across profiles between 2.01-2.37]. A mixed profile of PEs was associated with odd behaviors [OR=2.47, p=0.001], abnormal ideas of reference [OR=2.33, p=0.008], odd beliefs and magical thinking [OR=3.07, p<0.001], unusual perceptual experiences [OR=4.37, p<0.001], and suspiciousness [OR=1.91, p=0.032] versus no PEs. Delusions alone were significantly associated with odd beliefs and magical thinking [OR=2.31, p=0.005] and suspiciousness only [OR=2.16, p=0.017]. Hallucinations alone were associated with odd beliefs and magical thinking [OR=3.23, p=0.001] and unusual perceptual experiences only [OR=2.81, p=0.011].

Conclusion & Significance: PEs was associated with exposure to childhood trauma. Individuals reporting mixed profiles of PEs exhibited higher overall schizotypy associated with psychosis. Future studies may prospectively delineate potential risk of psychosis in individuals with history of childhood trauma.