title: Cognitive impairment among children at-risk for schizophrenia.
abstract: Adults with schizophrenia present cognitive impairments, as do individuals at ultra-high risk for the disorder, youth with relatives with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and children with antecedents of schizophrenia. The present study aimed to determine if impairments in childhood differed depending on the definition of risk and/or on the degree of relatedness to an affected individual, and if impairments were explained by IQ. Four groups of children aged 9-12 years were studied: (1) 13 children with ≥1 first-degree or ≥2 second-degree affected relatives (high familial loading: FHx(H)); (2) 14 with ≥1 affected second-degree relative (lower familial loading: FHx(L)); (3) 32 with well-replicated antecedents of schizophrenia (ASz); and (4) 45 typically-developing (TD) children with neither a positive family history nor antecedents. Compared to TD children, both FHx(H) and ASz children exhibited significantly poorer verbal comprehension, scholastic achievement, and verbal working memory, while FHx(H) children additionally displayed significantly lower full-scale IQ, and verbal memory and executive function impairments. After adjusting statistical analyses for IQ, group differences were attenuated. Relative to TD children, FHx(L) children showed no significant differences in performance. The results imply that impairments in verbal comprehension, scholastic achievement, and verbal working memory may index vulnerability for schizophrenia among children with affected relatives with the disorder and among those with multiple antecedents of the disorder who have no affected relatives. More accurate identification of children at-risk for schizophrenia and the specific deficits that they present provides opportunities for interventions such as cognitive remediation that may impact the development of the illness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: hannah.dickson@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dickson
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alexis E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Cullen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry, Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Preventive Medicine, Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Freidman Brain Institute, Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reichenberg
authors.affiliation: Département de Psychiatrie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Sheilagh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hodgins
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Desmond D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Robin G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, United Kingdom; Research Unit for Schizophrenia Epidemiology, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Schizophrenia Research Institute, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: kristin.laurens@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Kristin R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Laurens
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D056344:Executive Function; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: Developmental psychopathology; Genetic liability; Intelligence; Psychosis; Psychotic-like experiences; Risk factors