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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Psychopathology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1441919
This article is part of the Research Topic How to objectify the psychiatric subject in clinical neuroscience - results of current research programs running from general psychopathology to personalized neurobiology View all 5 articles

Developing a Codebook for Assessing Auditory Hallucination Complexity Using Mixed Methods

Provisionally accepted
Igor J. Pietkiewicz Igor J. Pietkiewicz 1*Radosław Tomalski Radosław Tomalski 1Anna M. Hełka Anna M. Hełka 2
  • 1 Research Centre for Trauma & Dissociation, Ignatianum University in Cracow, Cracow, Poland
  • 2 University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    In recent years there has been a notable expansion of psychotherapeutic approaches to treat people experiencing auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH). While many psychotherapists conceptualize voices as "dissociative parts" and apply therapeutic techniques derived from the field of dissociation, research investigating AVH from this perspective is limited. Despite the acknowledgment that voices encountered in dissociative identity disorder (DID) often exhibit high complexity and autonomy, there is a critical need for assessment tools capable of exploring voice complexity across different clinical groups. Such tools hold significant potential for aiding clinicians to identify patients who may benefit more from dissociation-based therapy approaches. This study aims to operationalize the concept of voice complexity (VC) by identifying its different dimensions and indicators. Using concept mapping procedures, 12 healthcare professionals and two voice-hearers participated in brainstorming, and 24 people with clinical backgrounds performed sorting and rating tasks. Seven dimensions of VC were

    Keywords: concept mapping, assessment, voice complexity, auditory hallucinations System Complexity, content complexity, Voice's Interest Complexity, Interaction Complexity with Voice-Hearer, Voice's Own Life

    Received: 31 May 2024; Accepted: 15 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Pietkiewicz, Tomalski and Hełka. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Igor J. Pietkiewicz, Research Centre for Trauma & Dissociation, Ignatianum University in Cracow, Cracow, Poland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.