Narratives of children who hear voices: nature, characteristics and stories.
Clarissa de Souza Cardoso, Valéria Cristina Christello Coimbra, Luciane Prado Kantorski and 3 others
PMID 41294160WHAT IT FOUND
Four children aged nine to twelve described hearing voices; three also reported visions.
They gave voices names, ages, tone, and frequency. Children described fear at onset. One child's onset story included a dog's poisoning.
Key findings
01All four children heard voices, but only one did not report visions; the other three described visions during the day.
02Children described voices with names, ages, gender, tone, frequency, and content; one child experienced them daily and called the relationship friendly.
03Children described onset details, including month, time of day, activities, bodily sensations, and fear.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only four children participated, so the narratives are not a broad picture of children who hear voices. Data were collected online, which may have excluded children without phones or internet and may have made some children less willing to speak, especially with family nearby. Participants came from only Rio Grande do Sul and Minas Gerais, so cultural and service differences may matter. The study did not compare groups or measure outcomes, so it cannot show that the support group changed the voices, distress, or function.
Declared interests
Funding came from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development. The paper does not report a competing-interests declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the Children United group as a proven treatment for hearing voices. The study only described what four children said about their experiences, and it did not compare the group with usual care or measure whether voices, distress, or function changed.