Social Self-Experience and Psychosis-Like Experiences in Emerging Adults: Evidence From Frequency and Distress-Weighted Models

Abstract

Background: Psychosis-like experiences (PLEs) are subclinical phenomena situated along the psychosis continuum whose clinical significance depends not only on their occurrence but also on the distress they elicit. Phenomenological frameworks suggest that disturbances in self-experience may constitute a core dimension of vulnerability to PLEs. However, the relationship between social self-experience and different PLEs dimensions remains underexplored in non-clinical samples of emerging adults. This study examined whether dimensions of social self-experience predicted PLEs across positive, negative, and depressive dimensions, and whether these associations were moderated by sex or residential environment.

Methods: A cross-sectional online study was conducted with 700 non-clinical emerging adults aged 18– 24 (50.00% women; 66.14% urban). PLEs were assessed with the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences-42 (CAPE-42). Social self-experience was measured with the Experiencing of Self Scale (EOSS), which provides four subscales: General Self, Casual Relationships, Close Relationships, and Positive Self-Concept. Three parallel hierarchical regression analyses were conducted for each CAPE-42 dimension, entering sociodemographic covariates in Block 1, EOSS subscales in Block 2, and interaction termsin Block 3. All analyses used HC3 heteroscedasticity-consistent robust standard errors and were replicated using Ridge regression. All models were estimated using both CAPE-42 frequency scores and frequency-by-distress composite scores.

Results: EOSS subscales produced significant increments in explained variance for positive (△R² = 0.076), negative (△R² = 0.065), and depressive PLEs (△R² = 0.077; all p < 0.001). Self-experience in casual social relationships was the most consistent predictor across all three dimensions in both frequency-based and frequency-by-distress models. Ridge regression corroborated these findings. No interaction with sex or residential environment reached significance in any model.

Conclusions: Difficulties in social self-experience show a small but consistent association with PLEs across positive, negative, and depressive dimensions in emerging adults, with casual interpersonal contexts emerging as a particularly sensitive domain. These associations persisted when distress weighting was incorporated. The absence of moderation by sex or residential environment points to the consistency of this association across subgroups.