title: Childhood cognitive function and adult psychopathology: associations with psychotic and non-psychotic symptoms in the general population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lower cognitive ability in childhood is associated with increased risk of future schizophrenia, but its relationship with adult psychotic-like experiences and other psychopathology is less understood.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether this childhood risk factor is shared with adult subclinical psychiatric phenotypes including psychotic-like experiences and general psychiatric morbidity.
  
  
  METHODS
  A population-based sample of participants born in Great Britain during 1 week in March 1946 was contacted up to 20 times between ages 6 weeks and 53 years. Cognition was assessed at ages 8, 11 and 15 years using a composite of age-appropriate verbal and non-verbal cognitive tests. At age 53 years, psychotic-like experiences were self-reported by 2918 participants using four items from the Psychosis Screening Questionnaire and general psychiatric morbidity was assessed using the scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Psychotic-like experiences were reported by 22% of participants, and were highly comorbid with other psychopathology. Their presence in adults was significantly associated with poorer childhood cognitive test scores at ages 8 and 15 years, and marginally so at age 11 years. In contrast, high GHQ scores were not associated with poorer childhood cognition after adjustment for the presence of psychotic-like experiences.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Psychotic and non-psychotic psychopathologic symptoms are highly comorbid in the general population. Lower childhood cognitive ability is a risk factor for psychotic-like experiences in mid-life; these phenomena may be one end of a continuum of phenotypic expression driven by variation in early neurodevelopment.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK. jhb32@cam.ac.uk
authors: Jennifer H
authors: JH
authors: Barnett
authors: Fiona
authors: F
authors: McDougall
authors: Man K
authors: MK
authors: Xu
authors: Tim J
authors: TJ
authors: Croudace
authors: Marcus
authors: M
authors: Richards
authors: Peter B
authors: PB
authors: Jones
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires