Positive symptoms and their associations with life and trauma events among young adults in a first-episode psychosis clinic: qualitative analysis.

Background: Trauma plays a critical role in psychosis, but the nature of the relationship between specific symptoms and trauma history remains unclear.

Aims: The aim of the study was to explore the experience of positive symptoms and their association with trauma and life events from the perspective of patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP).

Method: Seventeen participants who were enrolled in an FEP programme participated in a qualitative interview examining their life and trauma events, the onset of their symptoms, their experience of positive symptoms and their perceived associations between symptoms and life and trauma events. The interview was based on a semi-structured interview of six main questions and follow-up questions. Participants also completed the Trauma and Life Experiences Checklist (TALE), and were asked about the relevance of the whole interview. Thematic content analysis, exploratory cluster analysis and matrix queries coding were performed.

Results: Fifteen participants described the experience of psychotic symptoms as distressing or traumatic. Eleven participants attributed the onset of positive psychotic symptoms to trauma and life events. Ten participants described explicit thematic associations between their symptoms and trauma and life events. Twelve participants evaluated the interview as relevant and helpful.

Conclusions: Our findings give insight into the lived experience of positive symptoms and potential psychological interventions valuing causal theories of participants and the association with life and trauma events.