ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on future areas of research and experimental methodologies that can develop the understanding. It considers conceptual issues, including the implications for research of: the multidimensional character of delusions; multifactorial frameworks; the single-symptom approach; and the course of symptoms. Emotions are considered to be associated with particular cognitive themes, and hence delusional systems can be analysed with respect to these themes. It is hypothesised that in the process of delusion formation it is typically internal states that trigger a search for meaning. The presence of an externalising attributional style may increase the likelihood that a persecutory delusion is formed. The empirical work in earlier monograph represents only a beginning in documenting the types of psychological factors associated with anxiety that may influence persecutory delusions. A key idea underlying the model is that delusions arise from an interaction between psychotic and emotional processes.
