CORRELATES OF PSYCHOTIC LIKE EXPERIENCES AMONG YOUNG ADULTS DURING THE COVID19 PANDEMIC ACROSS FOUR COUNTRIES: A DATA MINING STUDY
Makaleler > Tam Makale · 2026
Yazarlar: Helin Yılmaz Kafalı, İnanç KABASAKAL, Dymytro Martsenkovskyi, Sheikh Shoib, İrfan Ullah, Joan Soler Vidal, Oluseun Peter Ogunnub, Paola Fuentes Claramonte, Gamze Erzin, Ozge Kılıc, Mireia Solerdelcoll Arimany, Victor Pereira, Aadil Bashir, Timothea Toulopoulou
Acta Medica Nicomedia, Uluslararası, 2026, cilt 9, ss 1-12
DOI: 10.53446/actamednicomedia.1911246
Özet
Objective: This study aims to identify predictors and country-specific factors associated with psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and to examine whether depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and sleep problems were consistent with a mediating role in the association between daily reported COVID-19-related deaths and PLEs. Methods: 854 participants completed e-questionnaires assessing PLEs, depressive/anxiety symptoms, and sleep problems using Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences-42-Positive Subscale (CAPE-42-Pos), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD), and Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Psychiatric/COVID-19 infections, cigarette/alcohol/substance use, daily new COVID-19 cases/deaths were noted on survey date. Association rule mining and PROCESS Macro Mediation analysis were applied. Results: COVID-19 death toll and PSQI had a non-linear, PHQ and GAD had a linear relationship with PLEs. Cigarette usage was associated with higher PLEs risk; conversely, past-month alcohol use was inversely associated with PLEs risk, though this latter finding should be interpreted with caution given the limited assessment of alcohol use patterns. PHQ-Total score was consistent with a partial mediating role in the association between COVID-19-related death toll and CAPE-Pos-Total score in the cross-sectional mediation model tested. Rule mining revealed that in Türkiye, substance/cigarette use and suicidality; in Nigeria, sleep problems and depression; in India, suicidality and sleep disturbances; and in Spain, COVID-19 history and psychiatric symptoms were strongly associated with high CAPE scores. Conclusion: Reported death number, depressive/anxiety symptoms, and sleep disturbances could be used to predict PLEs. Depressive symptoms could be important for preventing PLEs during pandemics, while considering country-specific risk factors for targeted interventions.