title: Early presence of thought disorder as a prospective sign of mental disorder.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess whether premorbid signs, such as thought disorder, could predict the subsequent manifestation of psychiatric disorders. A group of 75 adoptees at high genetic risk for schizophrenia and 96 low-risk adoptees without any psychiatric disorder at the initial assessment were assessed blindly with the Thought Disorder Index (TDI). Their psychiatric status was re-assessed according to DSM-III-R criteria in a re-interview 11 years later and based on available registers 16 years later. High scores on several TDI variables at the initial assessment predicted a psychiatric disorder of all adoptees at follow-up. Prediction was statistically unsuccessful among the high-risk adoptees because of the small number of cases, but high scores at the 0.50 severity level did predict mental disorders among the low-risk adoptees.
authors.affiliation: Päijät-Häme Central Hospital, Keskussairaalankatu 7, FIN-15850 Lahti, Finland. miia.metsanen@phks.fi
authors.forename: Miia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Metsänen
authors.forename: Karl-Erik
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Wahlberg
authors.forename: Outi
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Saarento
authors.forename: Taneli
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tarvainen
authors.forename: Jouko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miettunen
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Koistinen
authors.forename: Kristian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Läksy
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tienari
mesh_terms: D000300:Adoption / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics*; D013850:Thinking