Clinical Psychology Review
February 26, 2025
Eirini Aikaterini Melegkovits, Rui Tang, Olivia Pounds et al.
8 citations
A systematic review of 40 studies with 6941 participants found a moderate association between developmental trauma (abuse or neglect before age 18) and dissociation in people with psychosis. Sexual and emotional abuse showed the strongest links to dissociation. Dissociation partially explained the connection between developmental trauma and positive psychotic symptoms, especially hallucinations, and also contributed to paranoia and delusional ideas. Individuals with psychosis and developmental trauma reported more dissociation than those without trauma. The review recommends screening for psychotic and dissociative symptoms in trauma survivors and managing dissociation, while calling for more longitudinal, qualitative, and experimental research.
Scientific reports
July 30, 2024
J. D. Griffin, K. M. J. Diederen, J. Haarsma et al.
5 citations
People with first episode psychosis and treatment-resistant schizophrenia show reduced ability to stabilize their decision-making strategies in uncertain environments, resembling effects previously seen with the drug ketamine. In two studies, participants completed a probabilistic reversal learning task. Those with first episode psychosis made more errors and shifted strategies too often after misleading feedback. The treatment-resistant schizophrenia group also shifted strategies more, though their overall accuracy was not significantly reduced. Computational modeling revealed that only the treatment-resistant schizophrenia group showed altered confidence-based modulation of responding, similar to ketamine effects, though these modeling results are considered preliminary due to model limitations.
PLoS ONE
June 18, 2026
Elisa Liberati, Hv Curran, Peter Fonagy et al.
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy shows promise for treating PTSD, but the psychological mechanisms behind its effects are not well understood. This qualitative study will have approximately 25 experienced psychodynamic psychotherapists receive two doses of MDMA (80-120 mg, oral) in an open-label design. Participants will complete interviews before, during, and after MDMA sessions, plus daily journals. Researchers will use phenomenological and thematic analysis, along with grounded theory, to develop a model of MDMA's psychological mechanisms of action. The study treats therapists as expert observers of their own psychological processes, aiming to generate insights that can inform future treatment models and offer a framework for qualitative mechanistic research on psychedelics.