Negative evaluations of self and others, and peer victimization as mediators of the relationship between childhood adversity and psychotic experiences in adolescence: the moderating role of loneliness

Abstract

Objective: Previous research has identified an association between traumatic experiences and psychotic symptoms. Few studies, however, have explored the underlying mechanisms and contingent nature of these associations in an integrated model. This study aimed to test a moderated mediation model of negative childhood experiences, associated cognitive processes, and psychotic experiences within a context of adolescent loneliness.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Methods: A total of 785 Northern Irish secondary school adolescents completed the survey. A moderated mediation model was specified and tested.

Results: Childhood experiences of threat and subordination were directly associated with psychotic experiences. Analyses indicated that peer victimization was a mediator of this effect and that loneliness moderated this mediated effect.

Conclusion: A new model is proposed to provide an alternative framework for assessing the association between trauma and psychotic experience in adolescence that recognizes loneliness as a significant contextual moderator that can potentially strengthen the trauma-psychosis relationship.

Practitioner points: Moderated mediation analyses poses an alternative framework to the understanding of trauma-psychosis associations Adolescent loneliness is a vulnerability factor within this association Data are based on a Northern Irish sample with relatively low levels of loneliness Cross-sectional data cannot explore the developmental course of these experiences in adolescence.

Keywords: childhood adversity; loneliness; moderated mediation; psychotic experiences.