title: Childhood parasomnias and psychotic experiences at age 12 years in a United Kingdom birth cohort.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine associations between specific parasomnias and psychotic experiences in childhood.
  
  
  METHODS
  Birth cohort study. Information on the presence of frequent nightmares in children was obtained prospectively from mothers during multiple assessments conducted when children were aged between 2.5 and 9 y. Children were interviewed at age 12 y about nightmares, night terrors, sleepwalking, and psychotic experiences (delusions, hallucinations, and thought interference) occurring in the previous 6 mo.
  
  
  METHODS
  Assessments were completed in participants' homes or a University clinic within the UK.
  
  
  METHODS
  There were 6,796 children (3,462 girls, 50.9%) who completed the psychotic experiences interview.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children who were reported by their mothers as experiencing frequent nightmares between 2.5 and 9 y of age were more likely to report psychotic experiences at age 12 y, regardless of sex, family adversity, emotional or behavioral problems, IQ and potential neurological problems (odds ratio (OR) = 1.16, [95% confidence intervals (CI) = 1.00, 1.35], P = 0.049). Children reporting any of the parasomnias at age 12 y also had higher rates of concurrent psychotic experiences than those without such sleeping problems, when adjusting for all confounders (OR = 3.62 [95% CI = 2.57, 5.11], P < 0.001). Difficulty getting to sleep and night waking were not found to be associated with psychotic experiences at age 12 y when controlling for confounders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nightmares and night terrors, but not other sleeping problems, in childhood were associated with psychotic experiences at age 12 years. These findings tentatively suggest that arousal and rapid eye movement forms of sleep disorder might be early indicators of susceptibility to psychotic experiences.
authors.affiliation: MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: Helen L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Suzet Tanya
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Lereya
authors.affiliation: Warwick Medical School, Division of Mental Health and Wellbeing, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Sciences Unit, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Glyn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Sciences Unit, University College London, London, UK ; MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zammit
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wolke
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004325:Dreams / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D020184:Night Terrors / Q000453:epidemiology; D020447:Parasomnias / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013009:Somnambulism / Q000453:epidemiology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: ALSPAC; night terrors; nightmares; parasomnias; psychosis; sleepwalking