Psychopathology among offspring of parents with schizophrenia: Relationship to premorbid impairments

Abstract

Introduction-A broad range of psychopathology, including externalizing disorders is seen in offspring at genetic risk for schizophrenia. However, it is unclear whether such psychopathology may underlie a higher predisposition to the premorbid antecedents of schizophrenia. We examined the prevalence and correlates of psychopathology in an ongoing study of offspring genetically at risk for schizophrenia.Methods-Seventy five consenting high risk offspring (HR: offspring, age 15.68±3.27 years; male/female 34/41) and 82 matched comparison subjects (40 males and 42 females; age 15.92±3.0 years) participated in this study. Diagnoses were ascertained using structured psychiatric interviews and consensus meetings, including all available clinical information.Results-Sixty (60%) of the HR offspring had one or more lifetime diagnosis of axis I psychiatric disorder. HR subjects with axis I psychopathology had significantly more soft neurological signs, poorer premorbid adjustment, and higher schizotypy scores as measured by Chapman psychosis proneness scales. Among those with psychopathology, HR subjects with externalizing disorders showed the most abnormal scores in schizotypy.Discussion-A substantial proportion of HR offspring of parents with schizophrenia manifest a broad range of childhood psychiatric disorders. Psychopathology, especially externalizing disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may represent a subgroup with an increased risk for schizophrenia spectrum disorders. This possibility needs to be examined by prospective follow-up studies, and would be of considerable importance to early diagnosis and intervention efforts in schizophrenia.

14:15 Persistence of the Extended Psychosis Phenotype in Young People: Link Between Vulnerability and Clinical Need

“…Inconsistent results have been reported regarding the question whether the predictive value of parental psychopathology for psychopathology in the offspring is disorder specific (Goldstein, Buka, Seidman, & Tsuang, 2010;van Meurs et al, 2009), (internalising/externalising) spectrum specific (Kessler, Davis, & Kendler, 1997) or more diffuse (Bijl, Cuijpers, & Smit, 2002;Keshavan et al, 2008). The present results suggest that general parental psychopathology is associated with a broader spectrum of mild psychotic symptomatology, as represented by the measurement of (cross sectional) experiences at age 15 16 years, capturing both potentially transitory and persistent phenomena.…”

Rare structural variants found in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are preferentially associated with neurodevelopmental genes

“…Inclusion criteria included families of European descent with an ADHD proband (age [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Exclusionary criteria included prematurity ( < 36 weeks), mental retardation, major medical and neurological disorders, pervasive developmental disorder, psychoses and major mood disorders.…”

“…10,11 ADHD comorbidity occurs in many neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism, Tourette syndrome and in children with schizophrenic parents. 12,13 Recently, investigations of autism [14][15][16] and schizophrenia [17][18][19][20][21] have implicated de novo and/or rare copy number variations (CNVs) as being potentially pathogenic in these disorders. These findings are consistent with a genetic model where any of a large number of individually rare mutations of recent origin, and affecting a substantial number of genes involved in neurodevelopment, can contribute to disease predisposition.…”

Parental Psychopathology in Families of Children with ADHD: A Meta-analysis

“…Parental ADHD is one of the most common types of parental psychopathologies associated with child ADHD (Alberts-Corush, Firestone, & Goodman, 1986; Biederman et al, 1990 Biederman et al, , 1992 Chronis et al, 2003;Faraone et al, 1991;Weinstein, Apfel, & Weinstein, 1998). Research has also provided evidence that many other psychiatric disorders are more common in the parents of children with ADHD compared to the parents of children without ADHD, including depressive disorders (Biederman, Faraone, Keenan, & Tsuang, 1991;Faraone et al, 1991; Nigg & Hinshaw, 1998), anxiety disorders PARENTAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND ADHD 5 (Ghanizadeh et al, 2008; Nigg & Hinshaw, 1998;Weinstein et al, 1998), bipolar and related disorders (Arnold et al, 2012;Klassen, Katzman, & Chokka, 2010;Kowatch, Youngstrom, Danielyan, & Findling, 2005), substance-related and addictive disorders (Clark, Cornelius, Wood, & Vanyukov, 2004;Pelham & Lang, 1993;Weinstein et al, 1998), personality disorders (Faraone et al, 1991;Weiss et al, 1996), and schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders (Cornblatt & Keilp, 1994;Keshavan et al, 2008; Ross & Compagnon, 2001).ADHD. ADHD begins in childhood and symptoms often persist into adulthood (APA, 2013;Biederman, Mick, & Faraone, 2000;Resnick, 2005).…”