Severe conduct problems in adolescence and risk of schizophrenia in early adulthood

Abstract

Aim Reform school (RS) is a foster care institution for adolescents with severe conduct problems. Both instability of early rearing environment and severe conduct problems in adolescence may associate with later psychotic disorders. We studied whether the risk of schizophrenia in adulthood is elevated in RS adolescents, and whether it is related to the age at first foster care placement or placement instability. Methods Adult age schizophrenia spectrum disorder data from RS subjects (N = 1099) were compared to a comparison group matched by age, sex, and place of birth (N = 5437) in a register based follow‐up study, with up to 23 years follow‐up time. Schizophrenia was also predicted with chosen placement factors. Cox proportional regression model was used in the analysis. Results RS subjects had an 8‐fold (HR = 7.82, 95% CI 5.63‐10.87) risk of schizophrenia compared to the comparison group. RS subjects also had an earlier age of schizophrenia onset. RS cohort, gender, placement instability, or age during the first out‐of‐home placement did not predict later schizophrenia. Conclusions Adolescents with severe conduct problems are a specific high‐risk group for later schizophrenia. The risk manifests early, which compromises the pathway to the adult well‐being. Specialized screening procedures for psychosis risk should be implemented in the standard clinical procedures when working with adolescents with severe behaviour problems, and early intervention programs should be available.

A Practical Strategy for Exploring the Pharmacological Mechanism of Chrysophanol Against Obesity Asthma/Childhood Asthma Comorbidity

“…It has been reported that increasing rates of obesity among young people in the UK are a major cause of high rates of asthma, as well as in Italy and China (Manninen and Latvala et al, 2019).…”

Constructing Narrative Identity and Capabilities of Finnish Reform School Adolescents

“…This condition was defined by an absence of adult-age criminal record and severe mental health problems (N = 109). We used relatively wide inclusion criteria for healthy adulthood condition, as previous findings have revealed that RS background is often associated with a wide array of adult age problems (Manninen et al, 2015(Manninen et al, , 2017(Manninen et al, , 2018. After screening the eligible participants, the RS personnel approached them by sending a letter in which the study was described and a permission for the researchers to contact the participants was requested.…”

“…Despite rehabilitation, the current adult-age prognosis for Finnish RS adolescents is often poor. For example, adult criminality (Manninen et al, 2017), mental health problems (Manninen et al, 2011(Manninen et al, , 2018(Manninen et al, , 2021, reproductive health problems (Lehti et al, 2015) premature mortality (Manninen et al, 2015) and poor educational outcomes (Talaslampi et al, 2019) are very common in this group. Studies from other Nordic countries show similar development paths from teenage to adulthood of children and adolescents with behavioral problems including very high rates of premature death, serious involvement in crime, hospitalizations for mental-health problems, teenage parenthood, self-support problems and low educational attainment (Vinnerljung & Sallnäs, 2008).…”