Risk of developing schizophrenia among Japanese high‐risk offspring of affected parent: outcome of a twenty‐four‐year follow up

Abstract

Aims: Prospective follow-up studies of high-risk children may help clarify the etiological factors in schizophrenia. While studies from North America, Europe and Israel have estimated the risk of schizophrenia at 7-16% in the offspring of an affected parent, no data have been reported for Asian populations. Method:We started a follow up of the offspring of Japanese schizophrenia patients in 1978. We investigated the estimated risk of schizophrenia in 51 highrisk offspring at the 24-year follow up. The effects of the parents' status, including history of psychiatric hospitalization and social functioning, on the risk in the offspring were also investigated. Results:The cumulative incidence of schizophrenia was 13.7 % and the lifetime prevalence was estimated to be 13.5 Ϯ 4.8%. The association between the psychiatric hospitalization in the probands and the risk of schizophrenia in the offspring was not significant, and the Global Assessment of Functioning score was significantly lower in the probands with a history of psychiatric hospitalization than in those without such a history. Conclusions:The risk of developing schizophrenia in Japanese high-risk offspring might be comparable with the Western results. The present study suggests that the severity of the disease or the level of social functioning may not significantly affect the risk in Japanese offspring.

The Impacts of Parental Schizophrenia on the Psychosocial Well-Being of Offspring: A Systematic Review

“…The predominance of males in some studies and females in other studies may aid in differentiating the impacts of gender on the psychosocial well-being of HR offspring. Moreover, social functioning amongst HR Japanese offspring was not significantly impacted, which suggest cultural differences amongst HR offspring regarding psychosocial well-being [55]. Overall, studies included in this review cover a broad range of cultures, allowing the conclusions of this review to be generalised to many cultures, whilst building upon previous literature and highlighting upon the cumulative incidences across cultures [13][14][15].…”

“…A preliminary synthesis of the research found that HR offspring had a greater prevalence of behavioural and emotional disorders in comparison to those without a parent with schizophrenia. It was also found there to be a greater prevalence of psychiatric disorders amongst HR offspring; for example, it was found there to be a 13.7% prevalence of psychiatric disorders amongst HR offspring [55]. Furthermore, HR offspring are at greater risk in developing at least one or more psychiatric conditions.…”

“…The comparator in all studies included used healthy controls (HC) with the exception of [55], whereby in this study, a control is not stated (see Table 2). Some of the studies [56][57][58][59] used a comparison of offspring of those with a mental illness other than schizophrenia (OHR).…”

Comparison of behavioral problems between the children with one schizophrenic parent and children with healthy parents

“…In recent years, researchers have taken into consideration the at-risk populations, namely the children and adolescents of parents with schizophrenia. Emotional and cognitive problems have been found to be the main issues in the first-degree relatives of people with schizophrenia [13].…”

Factors associated with postpartum psychiatric admission in a population‐based cohort of women with schizophrenia

“…Psychiatric admission postpartum signifies severe psychiatric instability and is a negative outcome for both mother and child. This degree of psychiatric instability in a new mother is associated with impaired maternal–infant interactions, potential harm to mother and child, as well as poor child health and development, including increased risk of future psychiatric illness in the child . It can also result in custody loss, experienced by up to 50% of mothers with schizophrenia .…”