PhD Conferral Mrs. Yori C.O. van der Steen, MSc.

"Dissecting the psychosis continuum; risk factors along the pathway from experiences to disorder"

This dissertation examines risk factors that play a role in the transformation of psychosis-like experiences into psychotic symptoms associated with a psychotic disorder. The aim is to improve prevention and treatment of psychosis. The development of self-reported psychotic experiences was studied by using data from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study-2 (NEMESIS-II), a large-scale Dutch population screening for mental symptoms. The use of the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) gives an insight into emotional changes and psychotic symptoms in daily life. When confronted with stress factors in daily life, individuals at increased risk of developing psychosis report a more negative affect and more psychotic symptoms compared to patients with chronic psychosis and healthy control subjects.