Hearing spirits? Religiosity in individuals at risk for psychosis-Results from the Brazilian SSAPP cohort.
Alexandre Andrade Loch, Elder Lanzani Freitas, Lucas Hortêncio, Camille Chianca, Tania Maria Alves, Maurício Henriques Serpa, Julio Cesar Andrade, Martinus Theodorus Van de Bilt, Wagner Farid Gattaz, Wulf Rössler
Schizophrenia research February 1, 2019 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2018.09.020 via PubMed
Summary
In a study of 79 individuals at ultra-risk for psychosis and 110 controls, a positive relationship was found between organizational religious activity and perceptual abnormalities/hallucinations. Specifically, higher attendance at religious services correlated with increased hallucinations and lower ideational richness. Conversely, intrinsic religious activity was linked to decreased suspiciousness, while non-organizational religious activity correlated with higher ideational richness. The findings suggest that individuals with subclinical psychosis may use religious organizations to cope with their experiences.
Study at a glance
| Sample size | 189 |
|---|---|
| Population | Individuals at ultra-risk for psychosis and control individuals |
| Key finding | Organizational religious activity was positively related to perceptual abnormalities/hallucinations in individuals at ultra-risk for psychosis. |
Abstract
In the last decades, biological and environmental factors related to psychosis were investigated in individuals at ultra-risk for psychosis (UHR) to predict conversion. Although religion relates to psychosis in a variety of ways, it is understudied in subclinical samples. Therefore, we assessed the interplay between religion and prodromal symptoms in 79 UHR and 110 control individuals. They were interviewed with the Duke University Religion Index and the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS). Organizational religious activity, a measure of how often someone attends churches/temples, was positively related to perceptual abnormalities/hallucinations (Spearman's rho = 0.262, p = 0.02). This relationship was replicated in a path analysis model (β = 0.342, SE = 0.108, p = 0.002), as well as a link between organizational religious activity and lower ideational richness (β = 0.401, SE = 0.105, p = 0.000) with no influence of sex, age, religious denomination, or socioeconomic class. Intrinsic religious activity was negatively correlated with suspiciousness (SIPS P2) (β = -0.028, SE = 0.009, p = 0.002), and non-organizational religious activity was correlated with higher ideational richness (N5) (β = -0.220, SE = 0.097, p = 0.023). We hypothesize that subjects with subclinical psychosis may possibly use churches and other religious organizations to cope with hallucinations. Indeed, Brazil is characterized by a religious syncretism and a strong influence of Spiritism in the popular culture. The mediumistic idea that some might be able to hear and/or see spirits is probably employed to explain subclinical hallucinations in the lay knowledge. Our results emphasize the importance of assessing religion and other region-specific aspects of various cultures when studying UHR individuals. This sort of assessment would enhance understanding of differences in conversion rates, and would help to transpose prevention programs from high-income countries to other settings.