Racial Disparities in the Expression of Paranoia

NCT07460453 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: 25650F31MH135692
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 480
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Paranoia is a pattern of thinking in which people feel suspicious or believe others may want to harm them. It can occur in many people, not only those with a mental health diagnosis, and it can affect daily life, relationships, and overall well-being. Research has consistently shown that Black Americans report higher levels of paranoia than White Americans, even when they do not have a clinical diagnosis. However, the reasons for this difference are not well understood. The goal of this study is to better understand why these differences exist. In the experimental part of the study, researchers will use a randomized design to test whether exposure to stressful experiences related to race leads to higher levels of paranoia among Black American participants. The study will also examine factors that may strengthen or weaken this effect, such as individual experiences and personal characteristics. By identifying how stressful experiences related to race influence paranoia, this research aims to improve how paranoia is measured and understood across different groups. These findings may help researchers and clinicians use more accurate and culturally appropriate tools to assess psychosis-related experiences in diverse populations.

Conditions

Paranoia; Psychotic Disorders

Keywords

Paranoia; Psychosis-Spectrum; Adverse Experiences; Experimental Paradigm; General Population

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• State Paranoia

  Self-reported paranoia will be assessed immediately following the experimental task to capture acute, experimentally induced changes in paranoia. State paranoia will be measured using the Revised Green Paranoid Thought Scale (R-GPTS; Green et al., 2019), an 18-item validated Likert-type measure appropriate for clinical and nonclinical samples. Scores range from 0-72, with higher scores indicating greater state paranoia. The R-GPTS includes two subscales: (1) Ideas of Reference and (2) Ideas of Persecution. Items are summed to generate subscale and total scores. The scale demonstrates excellent internal consistency (α \> .90), and prior work (Wolny et al., revisions submitted) established measurement invariance across Black and White American participants.

  Immediately post-intervention (single session)

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Affective Response

  Pre-intervention and immediately post-intervention

Other Outcomes (2)

• Imagery Vividness and Task Engagement

  Immediately post-intervention

• Perceived Stress During Task

  Immediately post-intervention

Study Arms (4)

Blatant Race-Related Adverse Experience Imagery

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants are exposed to an audio-guided imagery scenario depicting a blatant race-related adverse experience. The guided imagery task instructs participants to vividly imagine a situation involving explicit racial hostility or discrimination. This intervention is designed to experimentally prime exposure to overt race-related social threat in a controlled setting.

Behavioral: Guided Visual Imagery Task

Subtle Race-Related Adverse Experience Imagery

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants are exposed to an audio-guided imagery scenario depicting a subtle race-related adverse experience, such as ambiguous or indirect racial bias. The guided imagery task instructs participants to imagine a situation involving covert or nuanced race-related social threat, consistent with commonly reported microaggressive experiences.

Behavioral: Guided Visual Imagery Task

Neutral Control Imagery

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Participants are exposed to an audio-guided imagery scenario depicting a neutral, non-threatening experience unrelated to race or social evaluation. This condition serves as a control for engagement with the guided imagery task without exposure to race-related adverse content.

Behavioral: Guided Visual Imagery Task

Social Exclusion Imagery

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants listen to an audio-guided imagery scenario depicting social exclusion (e.g., being left out or rejected in a social context) without reference to race and are instructed to vividly imagine the situation. This condition isolates the effect of social threat/exclusion from race-specific content.

Behavioral: Guided Visual Imagery Task

Interventions

Guided Visual Imagery Task BEHAVIORAL

Participants complete an online, audio-guided visual imagery task designed to experimentally prime social experiences under standardized conditions. After brief instructions to imagine themselves actively participating in each scene, participants complete practice trials with neutral content and then are randomized to listen to one audio-recorded scenario matched to their assigned condition. Each trial includes a brief relaxation period, an instruction period, a guided imagery listening period, and a short recovery period. Scenarios are approximately 30 seconds and are delivered via headphones/speakers within the survey platform. Following the imagery task, participants complete post-task self-report assessments capturing current (state) experiences, including state paranoia and manipulation checks (e.g., imagery vividness and task engagement). The task is administered once in a single session.

Blatant Race-Related Adverse Experience Imagery; Neutral Control Imagery; Social Exclusion Imagery; Subtle Race-Related Adverse Experience Imagery

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• years of age or older
• Self-identify as non-Hispanic Black or African American
• Currently reside in the United States
• Speak and read English
• Registered as a survey participant on the Prolific platform

You may not qualify if:

• Younger than 18 years of age
• Do not self-identify as non-Hispanic Black or African American
• Do not currently reside in the United States
• Do not speak or read English
• Not registered as a survey participant on the Prolific platform

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Indiana University: lead
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Bloomington, Indiana, 47405, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Paranoid Disorders; Psychotic Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders; Mental Disorders

Central Study Contacts

J Wolny

CONTACT

812-855-2620; wolny@iu.edu

William Hetrick

CONTACT

812-855-2620; whetrick@iu.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Provost Professor Psychological and Brain Sciences

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 4, 2026
• First Posted: March 10, 2026
• Study Start: April 13, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2026
• Last Updated: April 29, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)