Testing the stress-vulnerability hypothesis in ICD-10-diagnosed acute and transient psychotic disorders.
OBJECTIVE
To examine if family-history-positive (FHP) vis-à-vis family-history-negative (FHN) probands with ICD-10-diagnosed acute and transient psychotic disorders (ATPD) differ significantly with respect to number of life events and cumulative stress score prior to the onset of ATPD.


METHODS
Forty probands with ICD-10-based clinical diagnosis of acute and transient psychotic disorders were studied with respect to: (a) history of psychiatric disorders in first-degree relatives, and (b) antecedent life events and cumulative stress. The FHP and FHN probands were compared on the latter variables using Mann-Whitney U-test.


RESULTS
FHP probands reported significantly less number of total life events compared to FHN probands (P = 0.006). Similarly, FHP probands had significantly less stress score than FHN probands (P = 0.002). There were no significant demographic or clinical differences between the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings support the stress-vulnerability hypothesis in the aetiology of ATPD.
Das
S K
SK
Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical, Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Malhotra
S
S
Basu
D
D
Malhotra
R
R
D000208:Acute Disease; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D013997:Time Factors