Healthy Individuals With Auditory Verbal Hallucinations; Who Are They?
Epidemiological studies suggest that auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) occur in approximately 10%-15% of the general population, of whom only a small proportion has a clinically relevant psychotic disorder. It is unclear whether these hallucinations occur as an isolated phenomenon or if AVH in nonclinical individuals are part of a more general susceptibility to schizophrenia. For this study, 103 healthy individuals with frequent AVH were compared with 60 controls matched for sex, age, and education. All participants were examined by a psychiatrist using standardized diagnostic interviews and questionnaires. The individuals with AVH did not have clinically defined delusions, disorganization, or negative or catatonic symptoms, nor did they meet criteria for cluster A personality disorder. However, their global level of functioning was lower than in the controls and there was a pronounced increase on all subclusters of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) and the Peters Delu
