Childhood trauma as a mediator of the association between autistic traits and psychotic experiences: evidence from the ALSPAC birth cohort

Introduction: There is increasing evidence that autistic traits are associated with psychotic experiences. However, the mechanisms underlying such associations are still unknown. In this longitudinal birth cohort study, we examine the relationship between childhood autistic traits and psychotic experiences in adolescence and young adulthood, and the influence of childhood trauma on this association.Methods: We analysed data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort. We used four dichotomized measures of autistic traits (social communication difficulties at age 7, repetitive behaviour at age 5, sociability at age 3, and pragmatic language at age 9). Psychotic experiences were assessed at ages 18 and 24 using the semi-structured Psychosis-Like Symptoms interview. Traumatic experiences between ages 5 to 11 were assessed with questionnaires and interviews administered to children and parents.Results: The maximum sample with complete data was 3410 for the autistic traits-psychotic experiences analyses and 3327 for the mediation analyses. The corresponding maximum sample sizes for the imputed data analysis were 10,053 and 8121, respectively. Social communication difficulties were associated with psychotic experiences (odds ratio [OR] = 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01–2.02), including those that were distressing and/or frequent (OR = 1.60, 95% CI 1.02–2.52). Childhood trauma mediated approximately 40% of this association. Other autistic traits showed no consistent relationship with psychotic experiences. Results were similar when we adjusted for schizophrenia polygenic risk scores (PRS).Discussion: Childhood social communication difficulties are associated with psychotic experiences by age 24. This association does not appear to be explained by genetic risk as captured by current schizophrenia PRS. The experience of trauma may be an important, potentially modifiable pathway between autistic features and later onset of psychotic psychopathology where interventions could be targeted.

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The CCC2000 Birth Cohort Study of Register-Based Family History of Mental Disorders and Psychotic Experiences in Offspring

Schizophrenia Bulletin ◽

10.1093/schbul/sbu167 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 41 (5) ◽

pp. 1084-1094 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Pia Jeppesen ◽

Janne Tidselbak Larsen ◽

Lars Clemmensen ◽

Anja Munkholm ◽

Martin Kristian Rimvall ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Family History ◽

Mental Disorders ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Birth Cohort Study ◽

Psychotic Experiences ◽

History Of

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Maternal diabetes in early pregnancy, and psychotic experiences and depressive symptoms in 10-year-old offspring: A population-based birth cohort study

Schizophrenia Research ◽

10.1016/j.schres.2018.12.016 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 206 ◽

pp. 52-57 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Syudo Yamasaki ◽

Shuntaro Ando ◽

Marcus Richards ◽

Stephani L. Hatch ◽

Shinsuke Koike ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Early Pregnancy ◽

Maternal Diabetes ◽

Population Based ◽

Birth Cohort Study ◽

Psychotic Experiences

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T112. PTSD AS A MEDIATOR OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAUMA AND PSYCHOTIC EXPERIENCES

Schizophrenia Bulletin ◽

10.1093/schbul/sbaa029.672 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S273-S273

Author(s):

Daniela Strelchuk ◽

Gemma Hammerton ◽

Jazz Croft ◽

Jon Heron ◽

Stanley Zammit ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Childhood Trauma ◽

Traumatic Event ◽

Early Adulthood ◽

Trauma Exposure ◽

Sensitivity Analyses ◽

Birth Cohort Study ◽

Ptsd Symptoms ◽

Psychotic Experiences ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

The Relationship

Abstract Background Trauma exposure is linked to the development of psychotic illnesses, but little is known about potentially modifiable mechanisms underlying this relationship. Despite the high prevalence of PTSD symptoms in psychotic illnesses, only a few studies have examined the role of PTSD as a mediator, and these were all cross-sectional. This study aims to examine whether PTSD symptoms mediate the relationship between trauma and psychotic experiences (PE), using data from a large birth cohort study. Methods We used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) to test whether: a) PTSD symptoms (at age 15) mediate the relationship between childhood trauma (age 0–14 years) and adolescent frequent or distressing psychotic experiences (age 12–18 years) (study of adolescent PE; n = 2,952), and b) PTSD symptoms (reported at age 24 for traumatic event occurring before age 19) mediate the relationship between childhood/adolescent trauma (age 0–17 years) and incident frequent or distressing psychotic experiences in early adulthood (age 19–24 years) (study of adult PE; n = 2,492). Associations between the variables of interest were examined with logistic regression, and mediation with the parametric g-computation formula. As sensitivity analyses, we i) examined broader and narrower psychotic outcomes, ii) included a measure of psychotic-like experiences at age 14 years as an intermediate confounder in the mediation model for adolescent psychotic experiences, and iii) repeated analyses using imputed data. Results Exposure to trauma was associated with increased odds of psychotic experiences and PTSD symptoms both in adolescence and early adulthood (p<0.001). The association between PTSD and psychotic experiences was stronger in adolescence (p<0.001) than in adulthood (p=0.03). There was moderate evidence that PTSD symptoms mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and adolescent psychotic experiences (proportion mediated 14%), though evidence of mediation was much weaker for adult PE (proportion mediated 8%). In sensitivity analyses we observed similar results when using imputed data, and when modelling psychotic experiences at age 14 as an intermediate confounding for the adolescent PE outcome. The proportion mediated increased when examining more narrowly defined outcomes (19% for adolescent psychotic disorder). Discussion These findings provide some evidence consistent with the thesis that psychotic experiences and disorder can occur consequent to PTSD symptoms after trauma exposure. Targeting PTSD symptoms might help prevent the occurrence of psychotic experiences and disorder in people with a trauma history.

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Social and non-social autism symptom and trait domains are genetically dissociable

10.1101/228254 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Varun Warrier ◽

Roberto Toro ◽

Hyejung Won ◽

Claire S Leblond ◽

Freddy Cliquet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Correlations ◽

Autistic Traits ◽

Autistic Trait ◽

Repetitive Behaviour ◽

The Core ◽

Polygenic Scores ◽

Communication Difficulties ◽

Symptom Domains ◽

Social Difficulties ◽

Build Systems

AbstractThe core diagnostic criteria for autism comprise two symptom domains – social and communication difficulties, and unusually repetitive and restricted behaviour, interests and activities. There is some evidence to suggest that these two domains are dissociable, yet, this hypothesis has not been tested using molecular genetics. We test this using a GWAS of a non-social autistic trait, systemizing (N = 51,564), defined as the drive to analyse and build systems. We demonstrate that systemizing is heritable and genetically correlated with autism. In contrast, we do not identify significant genetic correlations between social autistic traits and systemizing. Supporting this, polygenic scores for systemizing are significantly positively associated with restricted and repetitive behaviour but not with social difficulties in autistic individuals. These findings strongly suggest that the two core domains of autism are genetically dissociable, and point at how to fractionate the genetics of autism.

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Influence of Low-Level Prenatal Exposure to PCDD/Fs and PCBs on Empathizing, Systemizing and Autistic Traits: Results from the Duisburg Birth Cohort Study

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0129906 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. e0129906 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Nikola Nowack ◽

Jürgen Wittsiepe ◽

Monika Kasper-Sonnenberg ◽

Michael Wilhelm ◽

Axel Schölmerich

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Prenatal Exposure ◽

Autistic Traits ◽

Birth Cohort Study ◽

Low Level

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Association between common early-childhood infection and subsequent depressive symptoms and psychotic experiences in adolescence: a population-based longitudinal birth cohort study

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291720004080 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Anna B. Chaplin ◽

Peter B. Jones ◽

Golam M. Khandaker

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Early Adulthood ◽

Population Based ◽

Birth Cohort Study ◽

Psychotic Experiences ◽

Childhood Infections ◽

Parents And Children ◽

Childhood Infection ◽

Very High

Abstract Background Childhood infections are associated with adult psychosis and depression, but studies of psychotic experiences (PEs) and depressive symptoms in childhood, adolescence, and early-adulthood are scarce. Previous studies have typically examined severe infections, but studies of common infections are also scarce. Methods Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth cohort, we examined associations of the number of infections in childhood from age 1.5 to 7.5 years with depressive symptom scores at age 10, 13, 14, 17, 18, and 19 years, and with PEs at 12 and 18 years. We performed additional analysis using infection burden (‘low’ = 0–4 infections, ‘medium’ = 5–6, ‘high’ = 7–9, or ‘very high’ = 10–22 infections) as the exposure. Results The risk set comprised 11 786 individuals with childhood infection data. Number of childhood infections was associated with depressive symptoms from age 10 (adjusted beta = 0.14; standard error (s.e.) = 0.04; p = <0.01) to 17 years (adjusted beta = 0.17; s.e. = 0.08; p = 0.04), and with PEs at age 12 (suspected/definite PEs: adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.18; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.09–1.27). These effect sizes were larger when the exposure was defined as very high infection burden (depressive symptoms age 17: adjusted beta = 0.79; s.e. = 0.29; p = 0.01; suspected/definite PEs at age 12: adjusted OR = 1.60; 95% CI = 1.25–2.05). Childhood infections were not associated with depressive/psychotic outcomes at age 18 or 19. Conclusions Common early-childhood infections are associated with depressive symptoms up to mid-adolescence and with PEs subsequently in childhood, but not with these outcomes in early-adulthood. These findings require replication including larger samples with outcomes in adulthood.

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