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Neuropsychological performance and family history in children at age 7 who develop adult schizophrenia or bipolar psychosis in the New England Family Studies.

Authors :
Seidman, L. J.
Cherkerzian, S.
Goldstein, J. M.
Agnew-Blais, J.
Tsuang, M. T.
Buka, S. L.
Source :
Psychological Medicine; Jan2013, Vol. 43 Issue 1, p119-131, 13p
Publication Year :
2013

Abstract

BackgroundPersons developing schizophrenia (SCZ) manifest various pre-morbid neuropsychological deficits, studied most often by measures of IQ. Far less is known about pre-morbid neuropsychological functioning in individuals who later develop bipolar psychoses (BP). We evaluated the specificity and impact of family history (FH) of psychosis on pre-morbid neuropsychological functioning.MethodWe conducted a nested case-control study investigating the associations of neuropsychological data collected systematically at age 7 years for 99 adults with psychotic diagnoses (including 45 SCZ and 35 BP) and 101 controls, drawn from the New England cohort of the Collaborative Perinatal Project (CPP). A mixed-model approach evaluated full-scale IQ, four neuropsychological factors derived from principal components analysis (PCA), and the profile of 10 intelligence and achievement tests, controlling for maternal education, race and intra-familial correlation. We used a deviant responder approach (<10th percentile) to calculate rates of impairment.ResultsThere was a significant linear trend, with the SCZ group performing worst. The profile of childhood deficits for persons with SCZ did not differ significantly from BP. Neuropsychological impairment was identified in 42.2% of SCZ, 22.9% of BP and 7% of controls. The presence of psychosis in first-degree relatives (FH+) significantly increased the severity of childhood impairment for SCZ but not for BP.ConclusionsPre-morbid neuropsychological deficits are found in a substantial proportion of children who later develop SCZ, especially in the SCZ FH+ subgroup, but less so in BP, suggesting especially impaired neurodevelopment underlying cognition in pre-SCZ children. Future work should assess genetic and environmental factors that explain this FH effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00332917
Volume :
43
Issue :
1
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Psychological Medicine
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
84305073
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291712000773