COVID-19 and Psychotic Symptoms in France
Condition: Mental Disorder
MeSH terms: Mental Disorders
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Study the impact of containment related to COVID-19 pandemic on psychotic experiences in the
      general population in France.
    

Detailed description: 
      The pandemic of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has now affected millions of people,
      including people in France. There are reports in the media about increased stress, anxiety
      and isolation for the entire population. Likewise, there are many concerns regarding people
      with mental health issues including people experiencing psychotic symptoms. Thus, studies are
      needed to understand better the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and related government
      measures (e.g., self-isolation) on the mental health and specifically on psychotic
      experiences. To reach this aim the investigators designed an online survey evaluating
      people's perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and government measures, their habits during
      the isolation period, to what extent they feel lonely, how they are managing their emotions,
      their general emotional state and finally the presence of psychotic experiences. Participants
      will be invited to complete these measures three times. Participants will complete the survey
      again in 1 week and then in 1 month.

      The specific goals of this project are:

        -  Determine the association between psychotic symptoms (paranoia and hallucinations) and
           perception of the COVID-19 pandemic and government measures, level of activity,
           isolation, emotion regulation, cognitive bias and negative affect at Time 1.

        -  Determine which factors predict psychotic symptoms one week later and one month later.

        -  Explore changes across time on these measures.

      Methodology:

      The entire study will be conducted online. Participants will be assessed at baseline_ T1:
      Peak of the COVID-19 pandemic; T2: 1 week after T1; T3: 1 month after T1.

      Participants will provide their informed consent. At these assessment moments, they will
      complete a set of self-report measures assessing COVID-19 related psychological aspects,
      emotion regulation, current levels of activity, cognitive bias, as well as paranoid ideation
      and hallucinatory experiences.

      - Participants will create their own ID code (so the investigators can then match their data)
      and when providing their informed consent to the study they would give us their email
      addresses so the investigators could contact them to fill out the measures in the 2nd/3rd
      assessment moment

      Sample size:

      The investigators have not set a minimum/maximum sample size for this study. The study will
      remain open until the end of the self-isolation period in France. The investigators hope to
      recruit at least 600 participants.

      List of self-report measures:

        -  Behavioral activation for Depression Scale

        -  The UCLA Loneliness Scale

        -  The Brief Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire

        -  Cognitive Emotional Regulation Questionnaire

        -  items measuring cognitive restructuring and catastrophisation

        -  Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire

        -  Cognitive bias questionnaire for Psychosis

        -  Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale

        -  Paranoia Scale

        -  Cardiff Anomalous Perceptions Scale
    

Observational model: Cohort
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        Individuals from the general population with or without a mental disorder