The phenomenology of auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia assessed with the MiniVoiceQuestionnaire (MVQ)

We used a 10-question self-report questionnaire, Mini Voice Questionnaire (MVQ), for mapping the phenomenology of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH). The MVQ contains questions related to daily AVH frequency and duration, the events preceding AVH episode onset and offset, the very first AVH episode, emotional content, coping strategies, if the voice comes from the inside or outside of head, if it is ones own voice heard, and whether the voice is present when filling out the questionnaire. Forty-one patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorder participated in the study. The construction of the MVQ was originally driven by an interest in whether AVH-episode onsets and offsets, that is, the coming and going of the voice, are initiated by specific environmental events or mental states, or whether they occur spontaneously, which could have both theoretical and clinical implications. MVQ scores were correlated with PANSS and BAVQ questionnaire scores. The results showed that specific events do not precede onset or offset of AVH episodes except for the very first episode which was often associated with trauma or other negative events. This finding could have implications for neurobiological models of AVH, showing that AVH episodes are spontaneously initiated, pointing to a neuronal origin of AVH episode onsets and offsets. The P3 (hallucinatory behavior) item of the PANSS questionnaire correlated significantly with frequency and duration of AVH episodes: More frequent and longer AVH episodes were associated with higher P3 scores, implying more severe symptoms. The results are discussed in terms of recent AVH models.