Relationship between neuroticism, childhood trauma and cognitive-affective responses to auditory verbal hallucinations

Neuroticism has been shown to adversely influence the development and outcome of psychosis. However, how this personality trait associates with the individual’s responses to psychotic symptoms is less well known. Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) have been reported by patients with psychosis and non-clinical individuals. There is evidence that voice-hearers who are more distressed by and resistant against the voices, as well as those who appraise the voices as malevolent and powerful, have poorer outcome. This study aimed to examine the mechanistic association of neuroticism with the cognitive-affective reactions to AVH. We assessed 40 psychotic patients experiencing frequent AVHs, 135 non-clinical participants experiencing frequent AVHs, and 126 healthy individuals. In both clinical and non-clinical voice-hearers alike, a higher level of neuroticism was associated with more distress and behavioral resistance in response to AVHs, as well as a stronger tendency to perceive voices as malevolent and powerful. Neuroticism fully mediated the found associations between childhood trauma and the individuals’ cognitive-affective reactions to voices. Our results supported the role of neurotic personality in shaping maladaptive reactions to voices. Neuroticism may also serve as a putative mechanism linking childhood trauma and psychological reactions to voices. Implications for psychological models of hallucinations are discussed.