title: Risk factors of psychosis: identifying vulnerable populations premorbidly.
abstract: This article reviews premorbid indicators of psychosis that may be relevant to primary intervention. These risk markers are divided into two categories: (1) precursors related to early etiological factors (family psychiatric history, perinatal and obstetric complications, neurobehavior deficits, early parental separation, institutionalization, and poor family function) and (2) precursors signaling latent mental illness (personality measurements indicating proneness to psychosis, and teacher ratings indicating emotional lability, social anxiety, social withdrawal, passivity, poor peer relations, and disruptive and aggressive behavior). Because teacher ratings have been shown to be powerful predictors of adult mental breakdown, part of this article focuses on a specific study that assesses such ratings as predictors of psychosis in a high-risk population. Risk indicators may also provide clues about protective factors relevant for primary prevention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Olin
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Mednick
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers; D017028:Caregivers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002657:Child Development; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D012372:ROC Curve; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors; D013663:Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers