Exploration of the paranoia hierarchy in the general population: evidence of an age effect mediated by maladaptive emotion regulation strategies

Introduction: Positive psychotic symptoms are suggested to be more prevalent in early adulthood. However, no previous study has examined a potential age effect especially for paranoia considering social reference and persecution as separated hierarchical dimension. Moreover, no previous study has examined the mechanisms involved in the decrease of paranoia with age. This study aims to explore (1) the age effect on paranoia and (2) whether the age effect is mediated by maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (MERS). Methods: A sample of 1644 participants from the general population completed the Green et al., Paranoid Thoughts Scale with measures of MERS and was split into three age groups (18– 29; 30–54; 55–82). Results: Age groups comparisons revealed a significant decrease of social reference with age but not of persecution. Mediation analyses indicated that this age effect was partially mediated by MERS. Additional analyses suggested that social reference moderated the relation between age and persecution. Conclusions: The present study showed that social reference and persecution are not equally affected by age and that MERS are important factors to consider when trying to understand the nature of paranoia. Finally, a younger age and the use of MERS
are suggested to be risk factors for developing paranoia.