Overview

Paranoia in adolescence has been historically viewed through the lens of adult psychosis, but emerging evidence suggests it may be better understood as a common, dimensional, and clinically important response to social threat during this key developmental stage. This talk will consider what we currently know about adolescent paranoia, including its links with bullying, discrimination, adversity and distress. It will also explore how daily life, experimental, and process-based research can inform earlier identification and more targeted psychological support for young people.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this event, participants should be able to:

• Explain why adolescent paranoia is increasingly understood as a common, dimensional response to social threat, rather than only a sign of adult psychosis.
• Identify factors linked to adolescent paranoia, including bullying, discrimination, adversity and distress.
• Describe how current research can support earlier identification and more targeted psychological support for young people experiencing paranoia.

Presenter(s)

Dr. Jessica Kingston

About the presenter(s)

Dr Jessica Kingston is an Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London, and Research Director on the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programme. She is a clinical psychologist and researcher whose work focuses on paranoia across adolescent and adult populations, with particular interests in social adversity, discrimination, bullying, psychological flexibility, imagery and values-based interventions. Her research combines clinical, experimental, longitudinal, and intervention methods to better understand how paranoia develops, when it becomes distressing or impairing, and how young people can be supported earlier and more effectively. Jess’s work in this area has been funded by the British Academy and Leverhulme small grant scheme, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Social Science Impact Accelerator Grants Scheme and she is currently co-CI on an National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) grant trialling a new school-based therapy for 16-18 year olds experiencing elevated paranoia.

Notes

Target Audience

This event is aimed at all psychologists and other mental health professionals involved in supporting the mental health of young people.

• This is a Member Groups event. All communication will be sent to the registrants’ registered email address. This includes event reminders with details (such as the Zoom link) and any pre-event or post-event resources, if provided by the facilitators.
• A post-event email will be sent within two weeks of the event’s completion to each registrant’s registered email address. This email will include the CPD certificate, event-recording, and any additional resources shared during the session.

Duration of Access

This event will be recorded. The recording will be emailed to all registered within 2 weeks post event and available for viewing up to 90 days.

CPD

It is up to attendees to assess and determine how learning from this event aligns with the requirements of their learning plan. The providers accordingly do not make any representation that the event counts towards attendees’ CPD learning requirements. If an attendee determines themselves that the learning they complete aligns to their learning plan, then they can decide to count those hours towards their CPD requirements for the registration cycle.

The information in this presentation has been prepared in good faith and for educational purposes only. Therefore, the information is general in nature and should not be relied upon in the treatment of any condition and you should seek your own independent professional and/or legal advice concerning any specific issue. The APS accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions or decisions relating to the information. The content should not be reproduced without permission or unless permitted by law.

If you are experiencing registration difficulties please contact APS Events Support.