title: Protective factors in Chinese university students at clinical high risk for psychosis.
abstract: The role of protective factors in symptom formation and prognosis in schizophrenia has been shown in many studies, but research in the early phases of psychosis is limited, particularly among the nonclinical subjects. Protective factors associated with the severity of symptoms and clinical outcomes might be meaningful to the establishment of prevention systems and to the development of optimal psychosocial interventions prior to the onset of psychosis. The present study compares self-reported levels of self-esteem, social support and resilience of 32 university students at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR) and 32 healthy controls in a longitudinal study design. Associations between protective factors with symptoms of psychosis were assessed in the CHR group. Individuals at CHR showed significantly lower self-esteem, social support and resilience compared to healthy controls. In the CHR group, lower social support and lower self-esteem were associated with more severe positive, negative and depressive symptoms. Multiple regression analyses revealed that self-esteem was the only significant determinant for negative, depressive symptoms and global functioning. In addition, we found that subjects who were fully recovered at a 6-month follow-up survey were greater resilient and showed lower depressive symptoms at baseline. The result implied that resilience intervention could be effective on early prevention of the onset of psychosis. Moreover, implications and limitations of this study will be discussed.
authors.affiliation: East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: shijingyu2005@126.com.
authors.forename: Jingyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Students Counseling Center, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yuhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Fazhan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xudong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Chenyu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D065840:Protective Factors; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012944:Social Support; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Clinical high risk; Resilience; Self-esteem; Social support; University students