Unwanted pregnancy as a risk factor for offspring schizophrenia-spectrum and affective disorders in adulthood: a prospective high-risk study

2008 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 957-965 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. F. McNeil ◽  
E. W. Schubert ◽  
E. Cantor-Graae ◽  
M. Brossner ◽  
P. Schubert ◽  
...  

BackgroundThis study investigated whether ‘unwanted pregnancy’ (i.e. a negative or ambivalent attitude towards the pregnancy/reproduction) is associated with schizophrenia-spectrum and affective disorders in the offspring in adulthood, and if so, whether other pregnancy, perinatal, childhood or genetic-risk factors account for this association.MethodIn a prospective study beginning during pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy (in combination with other early life risk factors) was studied in relation to adult mental disorders in 75 genetic high-risk (HR) and 91 normal-risk (NR) offspring, defined through maternal psychosis history. Early life risk factors were studied through personal interviews, observations and medical records, and offspring mental disorders were independently diagnosed through follow-up examination at about 22 years of age.ResultsUnwanted pregnancy by itself was significantly related to adult offspring schizophrenia-spectrum disorders in both the total sample and the HR subgroup, but the effect was found to be limited to the HR group and occurred in interaction with genetic risk. Other co-temporaneous pregnancy stressors and later perinatal complications, malformations and early childhood environmental stressors could not explain this relationship. Unwanted pregnancy also interacted with genetic-risk status in relating to affective disorders in the offspring.ConclusionsUnwanted pregnancy, when occurring together with genetic risk for psychosis, was found to be related to both adult schizophrenia-spectrum and affective mental disorders in the offspring. Although the effect of unwanted pregnancy could be mediated by other yet-unidentified factors, unwanted pregnancy might be a functional, discrete environmental psychosocial factor with its own deleterious impact on offspring mental development, when co-occurring with genetic risk.

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Jim van Os ◽  
Lotta-Katrin Pries ◽  
Margreet ten Have ◽  
Ron de Graaf ◽  
Saskia van Dorsselaer ◽  
...  

Abstract Background There is evidence that environmental and genetic risk factors for schizophrenia spectrum disorders are transdiagnostic and mediated in part through a generic pathway of affective dysregulation. Methods We analysed to what degree the impact of schizophrenia polygenic risk (PRS-SZ) and childhood adversity (CA) on psychosis outcomes was contingent on co-presence of affective dysregulation, defined as significant depressive symptoms, in (i) NEMESIS-2 (n = 6646), a representative general population sample, interviewed four times over nine years and (ii) EUGEI (n = 4068) a sample of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder, the siblings of these patients and controls. Results The impact of PRS-SZ on psychosis showed significant dependence on co-presence of affective dysregulation in NEMESIS-2 [relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI): 1.01, p = 0.037] and in EUGEI (RERI = 3.39, p = 0.048). This was particularly evident for delusional ideation (NEMESIS-2: RERI = 1.74, p = 0.003; EUGEI: RERI = 4.16, p = 0.019) and not for hallucinatory experiences (NEMESIS-2: RERI = 0.65, p = 0.284; EUGEI: −0.37, p = 0.547). A similar and stronger pattern of results was evident for CA (RERI delusions and hallucinations: NEMESIS-2: 3.02, p < 0.001; EUGEI: 6.44, p < 0.001; RERI delusional ideation: NEMESIS-2: 3.79, p < 0.001; EUGEI: 5.43, p = 0.001; RERI hallucinatory experiences: NEMESIS-2: 2.46, p < 0.001; EUGEI: 0.54, p = 0.465). Conclusions The results, and internal replication, suggest that the effects of known genetic and non-genetic risk factors for psychosis are mediated in part through an affective pathway, from which early states of delusional meaning may arise.


Medicina ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonanni ◽  
Gualtieri ◽  
Lester ◽  
Falcone ◽  
Nardella ◽  
...  

Background and Objectives: At present, data collected from the literature about suicide and anhedonia are controversial. Some studies have shown that low levels of anhedonia are associated with serious suicide attempts and death by suicide, while other studies have shown that high levels of anhedonia are associated with suicide. Materials and Methods: For this review, we searched PubMed, Medline, and ScienceDirect for clinical studies published from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 2018 with the following search terms used in the title or in the abstract: “anhedonia AND suicid*.” We obtained a total of 155 articles; 133 items were excluded using specific exclusion criteria, the remaining 22 articles included were divided into six groups based on the psychiatric diagnosis: mood disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other diagnoses, attempted suicides, and others (healthy subjects). Results: The results of this review reveal inconsistencies. Some studies reported that high anhedonia scores were associated with suicidal behavior (regardless of the diagnosis), while other studies found that low anhedonia scores were associated with suicidal behavior, and a few studies reported no association. The most consistent association between anhedonia and suicidal behavior was found for affective disorders (7 of 7 studies reported a significant positive association) and for PTSD (3 of 3 studies reported a positive association). In the two studies of patients with schizophrenia, one found no association, and one found a negative association. For patients who attempted suicide (undiagnosed), one study found a positive association, one a positive association only for depressed attempters, and one a negative association. Conclusions: We found the most consistent positive association for patients with affective disorders and PTSD, indicating that the assessment of anhedonia may be useful in the evaluation of suicidal risk.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000486742110574
Author(s):  
Luis Martinez Agulleiro ◽  
Renato de Filippis ◽  
Stella Rosson ◽  
Bhagyashree Patil ◽  
Lara Prizgint ◽  
...  

Objective: Self-reports or patient-reported outcome measures are seldom used in psychosis due to concerns about the ability of patients to accurately report their symptomatology, particularly in cases of low awareness of illness. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of insight on the accuracy of self-reported psychotic symptoms using a computerized adaptive testing tool (CAT-Psychosis). Methods: A secondary analysis of data drawn from the CAT-Psychosis development and validation study was performed. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and the Scale of Unawareness of Mental Disorders were administered by clinicians. Patients completed the self-reported version of the CAT-Psychosis. Patients were median-split regarding their insight level to compare the correlation between the two psychosis severity measures. A subgroup sensitivity analysis was performed only on patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Results: A total of 159 patients with a psychotic disorder who completed both CAT-Psychosis and Scale of Unawareness of Mental Disorders were included. For the whole sample, CAT-Psychosis scores showed convergent validity with Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale ratings ( r = 0.517, 95% confidence interval = [0.392, 0.622], p < 0.001). Insight was found to moderate this correlation (β = –0.511, p = 0.005), yet agreement between both measures remained statistically significant for both high ( r = 0.621, 95% confidence interval = [0.476, 0.733], p < 0.001) and low insight patients ( r = 0.408, 95% confidence interval = [0.187, 0.589], p < 0.001), while psychosis severity was comparable between these groups (for Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale: U = 3057, z = –0.129, p = 0.897; disorganization: U = 2986.5, z = –0.274, p = 0.784 and for CAT-Psychosis: U = 2800.5, z = –1.022, p = 0.307). Subgroup of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders showed very similar results. Conclusions: Insight moderates the correlation between self-reported and clinician-rated severity of psychosis, yet CAT-Psychosis remains valid in patients with both high and low awareness of illness.


2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1279-1289 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Peralta ◽  
E. G. de Jalón ◽  
M. S. Campos ◽  
V. Basterra ◽  
A. Sanchez-Torres ◽  
...  

BackgroundThere is a lack of consistent evidence regarding associations of neurological soft signs (NSS) with illness-related variables in schizophrenia. This study examined NSS in first-episode psychotic patients with respect to their factor structure and associations with risk factors, pre-morbid characteristics, psychopathology and spontaneous extrapyramidal syndromes.MethodFirst-episode, drug-naive patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (n=177) were assessed for NSS using the Neurological Evaluation Scale, and its 26 constituting items were factor analysed. The identified neurological dimensions were then entered into hierarchical regression models as outcome dependent variables of a set of predictors including risk factors (familial loading for schizophrenia, obstetric complications), pre-morbid characteristics (neurodevelopmental delay, symptoms of attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder, pre-morbid functioning), psychopathological domains (reality distortion, disorganization, negative symptoms, mania, depression, catatonia) and spontaneous extrapyramidal syndromes (parkinsonism, dyskinesia, akathisia).ResultsFive neurological domains were identified: sequencing, release signs, sensory integration, abnormal movements and coordination. Multivariate analyses showed independent associations (p<0.01) of sequencing with familial liability to schizophrenia, deterioration of pre-morbid adjustment and parkinsonism; release signs with obstetric complications, catatonic symptoms and parkinsonism; sensory integration with familial liability to schizophrenia; abnormal movements with familial liability to schizophrenia, obstetric complications, parkinsonism and dyskinesia; and coordination with neurodevelopmental delay. The empirically derived factors explained additional variance over and above that explained by subscale scores across the examined variables.ConclusionsFamilial liability to schizophrenia, obstetric complications, neurodevelopmental delay, deterioration in pre-morbid functioning and observable motor disorders appear to contribute independently to domains of neurological dysfunction. The findings support a neurodevelopmental model of NSS in schizophrenia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
F Mendonca ◽  
M I Mendonca ◽  
M Temtem ◽  
M Santos ◽  
J A Sousa ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Coronary Heart Disease (CAD) is a multifactorial disease, including environmental and genetic risk factors. Current smoking, dyslipidemia and diabetes have a significant impact in long- term mortality and morbidity. However, several genetic variants associated with CAD but not with traditional risk factors (TRFs) has been reported to improve prediction of events and extended mortality, in younger CAD people. Aim To evaluate the clinical utility of a GRS composed by variants from GWAS associated to CAD but not with TRF to predict life-long residual risk in patients under 55 years old and a low level of TRFs. Methods We conducted a prospective study with 573 consecutive patients aged &lt;55 years presenting with AMI and a low level of TRFs (without diabetes and with LDL cholesterol &gt;150 mg/ml). We analysed several biochemical markers and performed a GRS with variants not associated with TRFs (TCF21 rs12190287, CDKN2B-AS1 rs1333049, CDKN2B rs4977574, PHACTR1 rs1332844, MIA3 rs17465637, ADAMTS7 rs3825807, ZC3HC1 rs11556924, SMAD3 rs17228212 and GJA4 rs618675). We studied the GRS association with a primary composite endpoint of all-cause vascular morbidity and mortality including recurrent acute coronary syndrome (myocardial infarct and unstable angina), coronary revascularization (coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), re-hospitalization for heart failure, ischemic stroke and cardiovascular dead. Results A total of 573 patients were studied and followed up for a mean of 4.7±4.0 years. There were 169 recurrent cardiovascular events. The GRS was sub-divided into terciles, verifying that patients in the third tercile (high risk) had a higher number of risk alleles. Compared with the low-risk GRS tercile, the multivariate-adjusted HR for recurrences was 1.520 (95% CI 1.011–2.286); p=0.044 for the intermediate-risk group and was 2.051 (95% CI 1.382–3.044); p&lt;0.0001 for the high-risk group. Inclusion of the GRS in the model with TRFs alone (low risk) improved the C-statistic analysis (C-statistic = 0.030; p=0.004), cNRI (continuous net reclassification improvement) (30.8%), and the IDI (integrated discrimination improvement index) (0.022). Conclusions A multilocus GRS may identify young coronary disease patients with a low level of TRFs but at significant risk of long-term events recurrence. The genetic information may improve prediction discrimination, and reclassification over the conventional risk factors alone, providing better cost-effective therapeutic strategies. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Figure 1


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