Doctorate in Clinical Psychology Thesis: Coping with Hearing Voices: A Repertory Grid Study C. R. Marshall 2011 1 Acknowledgements I would like to thank first of all, all of the people who gave me their time to participate. Without these generous people I would not have had a project. I would also like to thank Mark and Marty for putting up with me at home and keeping me going. Special thanks also go to my mum for always being there to proof read, and the rest of my family for keeping me smiling. Also, my principal and field supervisors, David and Tim, as well as Mike McDonnell and Patsy Fuller for helping me recruit. Lastly, Cohort 8 for keeping me motivated throughout all of the ups and the downs. 2 Index Chapter 1: Abstract p.11 Chapter 2: Introduction p.12 2.1 The position of the researcher and inspiration for the study p.12 2.2 The aetiology of hearing voices p.13 2.2.1 A historical perspective 2.2.2 Definitions of hearing voices 2.2.3 Risk factors to psychosis and hearing voices 2.3 The prevalence of hearing voices p. 15 2.3.1 Recent estimates of prevalence 2.4 Cultural and spiritual factors p.17 2.5 Recent advances in thinking p.18 2.5.1 Hearing voices and the media 2.5.2 The hearing voices movement 2.5.3 Hearing voices and psychological distress 2.6 Models of Hearing Voices p.20 2.6.1 The disease model 2.6.2 DSM-IV definition of schizophrenia and Schneider's (1957) first rank symptoms (FRS) 2.6.3 Neuropsychological models of auditory hallucinations 2.6.4 A Developmental account 2.6.5 Psychological models of auditory hallucinations 3 2.7 Hearing voices and a relational framework p.26 2.7.1 Using research from interpersonal relationships 2.7.2 Relational theories and hearing voices 2.7.2.1 Gilbert‘s Social Rank Theory (Gilbert and Allan, 1998) 2.7.2.2 Birtchnell‘s (1996, 2002) Relating Theory 2.8 The psychology of coping p.30 2.8.1 Definitions of coping 2.8.2 Coping with hearing voices 2.9 Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) p.34 2.9.1 The PCP model 2.9.2 Repertory grid technique 2.9.3 Application of repertory grids to psychosis and hearing voices 2.9.3.1 The Fundamental Postulate 2.9.3.2 The Organisation Corollary 2.9.3.3 Distance and closeness to the voice 2.9.3.4 Salience of the ‗voice‘ and ‗self‘ 2.9.3.5 Tightness, invalidation and denial 2.9.4 Repertory grid studies of coping 2.10 Rationale for the study p.40 2.11 Hypotheses p.41 4 Chapter 3: Method p.42 3.1 Design p.42 3.2 Participants p.42 3.3 Measures overview p.43 3.3.1 Demographic data 3.3.2 The Beliefs about Voices Questionnaire- Revised (Chadwick et al., 2000) 3.3.2.1 Psychometric properties of the scale 3.3.3 Measurements of psychological distress- The Outcome Questionnaire 3.3.3.1 Psychometric properties of the scale 3.4 Structured Interview p.47 3.5 Analysis of repertory grids p.49 3.5.1 Slater‘s (1972) analysis 3.5.2 Idiogrid 3.5.3 The classification system for personal constructs (CSPC, Feixas, Geldschlager & Neimeyer, 2002) 3.5.3.1 Psychometric properties of the system 3.6 Methodology p.52 3.7 Ethical considerations p.54 3.7.1. Confidentiality 3.7.2. Informed Consent 3.7.3 Managing participant‘s distress 3.8 Time considerations p.56 5 3.9 Statistical data analysis p.57 Chapter 4: Results p.58 4.1. Demographic information p.58 4.1.1 Drop outs 4.1.2 Male/female comparisons 4.1.3 Ethnicity comparisons 4.2 Comparison of the sample to Chadwick et al.‘s (2000) sample p.60 4.3 Frequencies of scores from the OQ45.2 p.61 4.4 Comparison between engaging and resisting copers p.62 4.4.1 Demographic comparisons between engaging and resisting copers 4.4.2 BAVQ-R comparisons between engaging and resisting copers 4.4.3 OQ45.2 comparisons between engaging and resisting copers. 4.5 Testing the hypotheses p.64 4.5.1 Voice malevolence, benevolence and omnipotence 4.5.2 Which coping style is more valuable? 4.5.3 Relationships with voices 4.5.4 Salience of the ‗self now‘ and ‗dominant voice‘ 4.5.5 Tightness of the construct system 4.6 Content analysis of the constructs p.75 4.6.1 How is the dominant voice construed? 4.6.2 How is coping construed? 6 Case studies 4.7 An example of a participant who had an engaging coping style and experienced the dominant voice to be benevolent p.78 4.7.1 Background Information 4.7.2. Questionnaire scores 4.7.3 Elicited constructs 4.7.4 Idiogrid representation of Lindsey‘s repertory grid 4.7.4.1 Distances 4.7.4.2 Salience of the self and dominant voice 4.7.4.3 Tightness of construct system 4.7.4.4 Analysis of constructs 4.8 An example of a participant who adopted a resisting coping style and experienced both malevolent and benevolent voices and no mental health problems p. 83 4.8.1 Background Information 4.8.2. Questionnaire scores 4.8.3 Elicited constructs 4.8.4 Idiogrid representation of Peter‘s repertory grid 4.8.4.1 Distances 4.8.4.2 Salience of the self and dominant voice 4.8.4.3 Tightness of construct system 4.8.4.4 Analysis of constructs 4.9 An example of a participant who adopted a resisting coping style and experienced malevolent voices and increased psychological distress p. 88 4.9.1 Background Information 7 4.9.2. Questionnaire scores 4.9.3 Elicited constructs 4.9.4 Idiogrid representation of Calvin‘s repertory grid 4.9.4.1 Distances 4.9.4.2 Salience of the self and dominant voice 4.9.4.3 Tightness of construct system 4.9.4.4 Analysis of constructs 4.10 Synopsis of findings p.93 Chapter 5: Discussion p.94 5.1 Characteristics of the sample p.94 5.2 Voice malevolence, benevolence and omnipotence p.94 5.3 Psychological distress and the association to coping p.95 5.3.1 Clinical significance of these findings 5.3.2 Limitations of these findings 5.4 Relationships with voices p.96 5.4.1 Clinical significance of these findings 5.4.2 Limitations of these findings 5.5 Salience of the self and voice p.100 5.5.1 Clinical significance of these findings 5.5.2 Limitations of these findings 5.6 Tightness of the construct system p.102 5.6.1 Clinical significance of these findings 8 5.6.2 Limitations of these findings 5.7 Content analysis p.105 5.8 Methodological limitations p.106 5.8.1 Limitations of the sample 5.8.2 Limitations of the OQ45.2 5.8.3 Limitations of the BAVQ-R 5.8.4 Limitations of the repertory grid 5.9 The importance of culture p.109 5.10 Suggestions for future research p.110 5.11 Conclusions p.111 5.12 Researcher reflections p.111 Chapter 6: References p. 113 9 Appendices Appendix 1: Participant information sheets p.124 Appendix 2: Consent forms p.136 Appendix 3: Debriefing sheet p.138 Appendix 4: Recruitment poster p.140 Appendix 5: Ethical approval letters and letters of access p.141 Appendix 6: The Beliefs about Voices Questionnaire-Revised p.152 Appendix 7: The OQ45.2 Questionnaire p.155 Appendix 8: Blank repertory grid p.157 Appendix 9: OQ45.2 Licence p.158 Appendix 10: SPSS Output p.159 Appendix 11: Content analysis tables p.164 Appendix 12: Literature search strategy p.168 10 1. Abstract Hearing voices is a well researched experience, found in both schizophrenia and the general population. Previous research investigating the unusual experience has reinforced cognitive psychology concepts such as beliefs, power, core beliefs about the self, intent and identity. It has been suggested that these factors all mediate individual coping with the experience. Coping with voices is a clinically significant area of research pioneered by Romme and Escher and requires careful consideration. Kelly‘s Personal Construct Psychology and the repertory grid technique were used in the study to compare two ways of coping with voices: engaging and resisting coping. The groups were compared on the repertory grid measures of construed distance between the self and the voice, salience of the self and voice, and tightness of the overall construct system. In a sample of 18 voice hearers, the Beliefs about Voices Questionnaire- Revised (BAVQ-R), a measure of psychological distress (OQ45.2) and Kelly‘s repertory grid were administered. The study also used three case examples and content analysis of construct poles applied to the dominant voice and the self as coper to supplement the quantitative analysis with a more in-depth exploration. Resisting coping was found to be associated with a greater construed distance between the self and the voice, a more salient view of the voice, and a tighter construct system. However, neither resisting nor engaging coping was associated with psychological distress. In addition, voice malevolence was associated with distancing oneself from the voice, suggesting that distancing was an adaptive coping strategy used, possibly as a way to preserve selfhood. The study therefore added to the list of mediating factors between the voice hearing experience and the coping strategy adopted.