Fear of negative evaluation is associated with delusional ideation in non-clinical population and patients with schizophrenia

A number of recent studies suggest that delusions may be explained as a continuum from normal beliefs. Fear of negative evaluation from others (FNE) is one of potential factors that might describe this psychological process of delusions. In order to examine whether FNE is associated with delusional ideation in both non-clinical population and patients with schizophrenia, two sets of data [from a non-clinical student sample (n = 282) and from patients with schizophrenia (n = 117)] were collected to examine whether Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE) score and the 21-item Peters Delusions Inventory (PDI-21) score were associated with each other. Linear regression analyses were carried out to assess if the BFNE score still remained associated with the PDI-21 scores once the confounding effects of depression were controlled. BFNE scores were significantly related to PDI-21 scores in both non-clinical [Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (r) = 0.37, 95% confidence Interval (CI) = 0.25-0.48] and patient (r = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.14-0.49) samples. These associations were still significant when confounding effects of depression were controlled. Standardised coefficients for the BFNE scores in the linear regression model were 0.21 in the student sample and 0.19 in the clinical sample. FNE was associated with delusional ideation both in non-clinical population and in patients with schizophrenia. FNE might be a potential target for both pharmacological and psychological interventions for patients with delusions.