Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021;199(3-4):7689-7704.
doi: 10.1007/s11229-021-03133-4. Epub 2021 Mar 30.

Threats to epistemic agency in young people with unusual experiences and beliefs

Joseph W Houlders  1 , Lisa Bortolotti  1 , Matthew R Broome  2
Affiliations

Threats to epistemic agency in young people with unusual experiences and beliefs

Joseph W Houlders et al. Synthese. 2021.

Abstract

A good therapeutic relationship in mental health services is a predictor of positive clinical outcomes for people who seek help for distressing experiences, such as voice hearing and paranoia. One factor that may affect the quality of the therapeutic relationship and raises further ethical issues is the impact of the clinical encounter on users' sense of self, and in particular on their sense of agency. In the paper, we discuss some of the reasons why the sense of epistemic agency may be especially fragile in young people with unusual experiences and beliefs. We argue that it is important to identify and avoid behaviours that can undermine young people's contributions as epistemic agents in the clinical encounter.

Keywords: Autobiographical narrative; Epistemic injustice; Sense of agency; Therapeutic relationship; Youth mental health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Addis, D. R., & Tippett, L. J. (2008). The contributions of autobiographical memory to the content and continuity of identity: A social-cognitive neuroscience approach. In F. Sani (Ed.), Self continuity: Individual and collective perspectives. (pp. 71–84). Psychology Press.
    1. Alicke M, Sedikides C. Self-enhancement and self-protection: what they are and what they do. European Review of Social Psychology. 2009;20:1–48. doi: 10.1080/10463280802613866. - DOI
    1. Bandura A. Human agency in social cognitive theory. American Psychologist. 1989;44(9):1175–1184. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.44.9.1175. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Birkhäuer J, Gaab J, Kossowsky J, Hasler S, Krummenacher P, Werner C, et al. Trust in the health care professional and health outcome: A meta-analysis. PLoS ONE. 2017;12(2):e0170988. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170988. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Blakemore, S. (2019). Inventing ourselves: the secret life of the teenage brain. . Black Swan.

LinkOut - more resources