Network structure of delusions and auditory hallucinations using the PSYRATS

Understanding the relationship between symptoms as a network is a relatively new approach to understanding psychopathology but one which has the potential to show how different experiences inter-relate and support each other to maintain distressing and disabling psychological states. In SLaM we use the Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scales (PSYRATS) to assess delusions and auditory hallucinations and this data is stored on PJS as specific fields. The PSYRATS Voices and Delusions scales also have the advantage that they include items which assess the impact and understanding of these experiences (for example, how distressing the experience is) as well as its presence, allowing for an understanding of how well, for example, characteristics of the hallucinated voice might predict and maintain distress. This study will use the scale items to do a large scale analysis of symptom structure.