Real-world premorbid functioning in schizophrenia and affective disorders during the early teenage years: a population-based study of school grades and teacher ratings (original) (raw)
Related papers
2003
Evidence is accumulating that developmental abnor-malities, poor neuromotor function, and increased problem behavior precede the manifestation of schizo-phrenia itself. Information on school performance and behavioral development was obtained for 49 pairs of twins in which at least one twin suffered from schizo-phrenia (20 monozygotic [MZ], 29 dizygotic [DZ]) and for 43 pairs of healthy control twins (25 MZ, 18 DZ). Cox regression was used to analyze the contribution of schizophrenia, zygosity, sex, and year of birth to the age at which developmental divergence occurred. In both MZ and DZ twin pairs with schizophrenia, diver-gence in school performance occurred about 7.5 years earlier than it did in control twins, at 12 years of age, preceding the onset of psychosis by 10 years. This sug-gests that the first prodromal signs of schizophrenia manifest themselves as cognitive symptoms at the onset of puberty. Underperformance at school might therefore be considered one of the first sig...
Schizophrenia Research: Cognition, 2015
Neurocognitive dysfunction is common in schizophrenia but its course and determinants remain uncertain. Our aim was to analyse if premorbid school performance and the severity of illness and functioning predict change in cognition in schizophrenia in a general population sample. The sample included cases with schizophrenia spectrum disorder from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. Data on school marks at the age of 16 years, educational level at the age of 34 years, severity of symptoms and occupational functioning around first episode and after years of illness were gained from national registers, hospital notes and interviews. Change of verbal and visual learning and memory and executive functioning were examined between ages 34 and 43 years. The number of cases varied in analyses from 29 to 41, depending on missing data in particular cognitive tests. Lower school marks at age 16 years and lower education at age 34 years predicted more decline of cognition. Measures of severity of illness or functioning were not associated statistically significantly with change of cognition. Premorbid school performance, but not later course of schizophrenia, related to change of cognition in midlife. Poor premorbid scholastic performance and post-onset cognitive decline may represent related processes as part of an endophenotype of schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia research, 2005
Kraepelin and Blueler suggested that subtle manifestations of schizophrenia are present in some persons for many years before formal diagnosis and that the severity of these is associated with outcomes in schizophrenia. Empirical support for this hypothesis comes primarily from small samples using retrospectively collected data. We tested this hypothesis, for the first time, using a population-based cohort. The Israeli Draft Board Registry, which contains measures of intellectual and behavioral functioning for the unselected population of 17-year-olds, was merged with the National Psychiatric Hospitalization Case Registry that contains data on all psychiatric hospitalizations. The database was used to identify adolescents assessed by the draft board at least 1 year prior to their first hospitalization for schizophrenia (n=996) or affective disorder (n=335). Poorer social functioning and organizational ability prior to first admission were associated with more days per year in the ho...
Differential patterns of premorbid academic and social deterioration in patients with schizophrenia
Schizophrenia Research, 2005
Schizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by a number of behavioral abnormalities that are present prior to onset. These premorbid abnormalities may serve as unique markers for the disorder. The current study examines academic and social functioning prior to schizophrenia onset in a group of 58 males diagnosed with schizophrenia. The pattern of deterioration for social and academic functioning was examined across three age periods including childhood, early adolescence, and late adolescence, using the retrospective Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS). Results indicated that while increasing deterioration was present for both social and academic adjustment across age periods, there was a significant difference in deterioration between academic and social functioning ( pb.05) during late adolescence, with greater deterioration in academic functioning. Results of the current study suggest that premorbid academic functioning is particularly susceptible to deterioration during late adolescence, with accelerating deterioration as schizophrenia onset becomes imminent. When considered together with results from other studies, the present findings suggest that deterioration in premorbid academic functioning from early to late adolescence may be a unique premorbid marker for schizophrenia. D
School Performance as a Premorbid Marker for Schizophrenia: A Twin Study
Schizophrenia Bulletin, 2002
Evidence is accumulating that developmental abnormalities, poor neuromotor function, and increased problem behavior precede the manifestation of schizophrenia itself. Information on school performance and behavioral development was obtained for 49 pairs of twins in which at least one twin suffered from schizophrenia (20 monozygotic [MZ], 29 dizygotic [DZ]) and for 43 pairs of healthy control twins (25 MZ, 18 DZ). Cox regression was used to analyze the contribution of schizophrenia, zygosity, sex, and year of birth to the age at which developmental divergence occurred. In both MZ and DZ twin pairs with schizophrenia, divergence in school performance occurred about 7.5 years earlier than it did in control twins, at 12 years of age, preceding the onset of psychosis by 10 years. This suggests that the first prodromal signs of schizophrenia manifest themselves as cognitive symptoms at the onset of puberty. Underperformance at school might therefore be considered one of the first signs of an until then latent vulnerability for schizophrenia.
Biological Psychiatry, 1998
The purpose of this study was to examine the association of educational attainment with phenomenology and neurobehavioral measures assessing brain structure and function in schizophrenia. One hundred sixty-two patients with schizophrenia were divided into two groups on the basis of educational attainment: > or = 13 years of education was the cutoff between the high and low groups. The two education groups were compared on symptomatology, functioning, and subsamples on neuropsychological profile, brain volume by magnetic resonance imaging, and brain metabolism by fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography. The patients with more education had lower levels of psychotic symptomatology than their counterparts with less education. This was most evident for affective flattening, alogia, avolition, and bizarre behavior. The higher education group also had better ratings on premorbid adjustment, and the engagement and vocational factors of the Quality of Life Scale. Patients in the high education group also performed better on the neuropsychological battery. There were no brain volume differences or differences in brain metabolism between the two education groups. Education is an important indicator of premorbid function and is related to the clinical presentation of schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia Research - SCHIZOPHR RES, 2006
Background: Some, but not most, schizophrenia patients have below-average intelligence years before they manifest psychosis. However, it is not clear if those whose intelligence falls within-normal-range nevertheless have cognitive abnormalities. We examined the association between intra-individual variability in intellectual performance and risk for schizophrenia in individuals with normal IQ. Methods: 555,326 adolescents, mandatory assessed by the Israeli Draft Board were followed up over 8 to 17 years for psychiatric hospitalization by means of the Israeli National Psychiatric Hospitalization Case Registry. Data were available on 4 intelligence sub-tests, and on behavioral and psychosocial variables. Variability was computed from the variance of the four intelligence tests' standardized scores. Results: There was a significant monotonic association between increased intra-individual variability in intellectual performance and risk of schizophrenia in individuals with within-normal-range IQ. Individuals with the highest variability were 3.8 times more likely to have schizophrenia [95%CI: 2.32-6.08; p b 0.0001] compared with individuals with the lowest variability. This association held after controlling for the effects of potential confounders. 0920-9964/$ -see front matter D (A. Reichenberg). Schizophrenia Research 85 (2006) 49 -57 www.elsevier.com/locate/schres
Premorbid IQ and schizophrenia
European archives of psychiatry and …, 2003
s Abstract In order to test the hypothesis that acute schizophrenia episodes have a negative impact on cognitive function, 35 consecutive non-abuse schizophrenia outpatients (age < 60) were enrolled in this study.All subjects for whom grades from the 9 th year of the Swedish school system were available, had to complete a comprehensive computerized neuropsychological test session. Symptoms were rated by PANSS and GAF, previous episodes were tallied, and medication was logged.A premorbid cognitive score was calculated on the basis of school grades and validated by comparison with academic career and current cognitive performance (r = 0.56).Half had college level studies or higher,and the overall school grades for the group were above average. PANSS (sum = 59) and GAF [59] ratings as well as medication (M = 230 CPZ units) suggested a moderate symptom level.Two patients had no neuroleptic drugs,16 had atypical and 17 had conventional neuroleptics. Vocabulary was intact. On average, patients had lost 1 standard deviation (SD) in most cognitive tests but response time slowing amounted to 3.5 SD.There were no differences in cognition between drug types and no correlation with CPZ dose.The number of previous episodes was positively correlated with reaction time prolongation and negatively correlated with short-term verbal memory,consistent with a previous study suggesting that acute episodes cause specific cognitive reduction. s
Long-term course of adolescent schizophrenia
Schizophrenia bulletin, 2005
Our study investigated premorbid functioning, course, and outcome in early-onset schizophrenia. All inpatients with DSM-III-R diagnoses of schizophrenia (n = 101) consecutively admitted between 1983 and 1988 to the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Marburg in Germany were included. To assess premorbid adaptation and precursor symptoms, we administered the Instrument for the Retrospective Assessment of the Onset of Schizophrenia, which we modified to assess children and adolescents. Symptomatology was measured by the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms, the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. In addition, the Global Assessment of Functioning was applied. Followup data for 81 patients (80.2%) were available. The mean duration of schizophrenia at followup was 9.5 +/- 2.2 years. Assessment of the highest level of adaptive functioning revealed very good or good outcome in 19.8 percent of the pat...
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 2018
academic and social functioning in patients with schizophrenia and its associations with negative symptoms and cognition. Objective: The study aimed to explore premorbid academic and social functioning in patients with schizophrenia, and its associations with the severity of negative symptoms and neurocognitive impairment. Method: Premorbid adjustment (PA) in patients with schizophrenia was compared to early adjustment in unaffected first-degree relatives and healthy controls. Its associations with psychopathology, cognition, and real-life functioning were investigated. The associations of PA with primary negative symptoms and their two factors were explored. Results: We found an impairment of academic and social PA in patients (P ≤ 0.000001) and an impairment of academic aspects of early adjustment in relatives (P ≤ 0.01). Patients with poor PA showed greater severity of negative symptoms (limited to avolition after excluding the effect of depression/parkinsonism), working memory, social cognition, and real-life functioning (P ≤ 0.01 to ≤0.000001). Worse academic and social PA were associated with greater severity of psychopathology, cognitive impairment, and real-life functioning impairment (P ≤ 0.000001). Regression analyses showed that worse PA in the academic domain was mainly associated to the impairment of working memory, whereas worse PA in the social domain to avolition (P ≤ 0.000001). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that poor early adjustment may represent a marker of vulnerability to schizophrenia and highlight the need for preventive/early interventions based on psychosocial and/or cognitive programs.