Childhood predictors of future psychiatric morbidity in offspring of mothers with psychotic disorder: Results from the Helsinki high-risk study

Abstract

Background: The Helsinki High-Risk Study monitors women treated for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders in Helsinki mental hospitals before 1975, their offspring, and controls. Aims: To compare the development of high-risk and control group children, and investigate which factors predicted future psychiatric disorders. Method: We examined information from childhood and school health record cards of 159 high-risk and 99 control group offspring. Logistic regression was used to assess whether developmental abnormalities predicted later mental disorders. Results: Compared with controls, children in the high-risk group had more emotional symptoms before school age, attentional problems and social inhibition at school age, and neurological soft signs throughout. In this group pre-school social adjustment problems (OR=9.7,95% CI 1.8-51.8) or severe neurological symptoms (Fishers test, P=0.006) predicted future schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. Social adjustment problems and emotional symptoms during school age predicted future non-psychotic psychiatric disorders. Conclusions: Our study supports the validity of neurological, emotional, social and behavioural markers as vulnerability indicators of psychotic and other mental disorders, particularly among children genetically at high risk of psychosis.