Childhood motor coordination and adult schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
OBJECTIVE
The authors examined whether motor coordination difficulties assessed in childhood predict later adult schizophrenia spectrum outcomes.


METHODS
A standardized childhood neurological examination was administered to a sample of 265 Danish children in 1972, when participants were 10-13 years old. Adult diagnostic information was available for 244 members of the sample. Participants fell into three groups: children whose mothers or fathers had a psychiatric hospital diagnosis of schizophrenia (N=94); children who had at least one parent with a psychiatric record of hospitalization for a nonpsychotic disorder (N=84); and children with no parental records of psychiatric hospitalization (N=66). Psychiatric outcomes of the offspring were assessed through psychiatric interviews in 1992 when participants were 31-33 years of age, as well as through a scan of national psychiatric registers completed in May 2007.


RESULTS
Children who later developed a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (N=32) displayed significantly higher scores on a scale of coordination deficits compared with those who did not develop a mental illness in this category (N=133).


CONCLUSIONS
Results from this study provide further support for the neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia and underscore the potential role of cerebellar and/or basal ganglia abnormalities in the etiology and pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
Schiffman
Jason
J
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA. schiffma@umbc.edu
Sorensen
Holger J
HJ
Maeda
Justin
J
Mortensen
Erik L
EL
Victoroff
Jeff
J
Hayashi
Kentaro
K
Michelsen
Niels M
NM
Ekstrom
Morten
M
Mednick
Sarnoff
S
D000328:Adult; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000503:physiopathology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology