Some elements were chosen on repertory grid literature; for example, ‘self’, ‘ideal self’ and ‘others’ are often used in repertory grid studies (Winter, 2003; Fransella, Bell & Bannister, 2004). Elements were also chosen based on the relevant topic of psychosis. The same elements were used across participants to allow analysis across multiple grids; however, individuals elicited their own constructs as a way of exploring personal meaning. The elements were presented to participants on separate cards. Participants were asked to think of specific people they knew for elements 5, 9 and 10.The constructs in the present study were elicited using the triadic opposite method (Epting, Suchman, & Nickeson, 1971). Participants were presented with three of the above elements at a time and asked “In what way are two of these similar but somehow different from the third?” (e.g. Strong). There are no formally accepted ways of selecting which elements are presented to participants using the triadic method, with the three elements usually selected at random. Once the construct has been elicited from the participant, the three elements are then replaced ready for the next iteration. When a construct had been elicited, participants were then asked what the opposite of the elicited construct was (e.g. Weak), and which construct end they preferred. This process was repeated using further triads of elements randomly selected, until 10 construct pairs were identified as this number tends to be sufficient for gaining an of the individual’s construct system on a particular topic (Ryle & Breen, 1972). The construct pairs were then written on cards and placed at each end of a table. For each of the elicited constructs, participants then rated each element on a 10-point scale (e.g. 0 = Strongest, 10 = Weakest) by positioning the element cards in their preferred order. Intervention trial
be that following MBCT, participants were able to reflect on their selves, recognising that they would like to be recovered and identifying their values and goals in life. However, there was no support for hypothesis three as there was no significant change in the distance between self and self as recovered from psychosis which indicates that although participants wanted to feel recovered from psychosis, they did not perceive themselves to be any closer to this goal post-group. Interestingly, scores on the QPR indicated an improvement in recovery. Although these findings may initially seem contradictory, they may reflect the idiosyncratic nature of recovery (Law & Morrison, 2014). The QPR measure explores personal recovery in relation to psychological distress, quality of life and empowerment, and so improvement in QPR scores can be achieved in the absence of a reduction in psychotic symptoms (Neil et al., 2009). However, the finding that participants did not construe themselves to be any closer to self as recovered from psychosis may indicate that there are other factors important to recovery that may not have been assessed using the QPR. It seems reasonable to suggest that a reduction in psychotic symptoms is likely to be a contributing factor to some participants’ recovery, even if not a priority. In contrast to the fourth hypothesis, the findings indicated a tightening of participants’ construing following MBCT. This indicates increased correlation between constructs, in that participants’ construing became more concrete and less flexible. Therapeutic benefit has more often been associated with a loosening of construing (e.g. Winter et al., 2007; Mason, 2008), with some contrasting evidence of tightening (Watson & Winter, 1997). Gould (2000) highlights that in new situations anxiety can lead to a tightening of construing as individuals react to the uncertainty by becoming even more fixed in their thinking. Of note, participants demonstrated tight construing
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