M7. Childhood Social and Emotional Functioning Deficits in a Community Sample of Women With Psychosis

Abstract

Background: Premorbid social defcits and depression are robust risk factors for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Few prospective childhood cohort studies have examined specifc aspects of social and emotional functioning in those who later develop psychosis. Method(s): The current study consisted of participants from the Pittsburgh Girls Study (PGS), a longitudinal study of 4 age cohorts of girls initially aged 5-8 years who have completed annual assessments for the past 15 years. At the most recent assessment, PGS participants were ages 19-22, well within the typical age range for developing symptoms of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Of the 2450 families participating in the PGS, 2117 completed the schizophrenia subscale of the Adult Symptom Inventory-4 at the most recent annual assessment; of these, 194 self-reported high psychosis scores (ie, 2 SDs above the mean). It was hypoth-esized that high-psychosis women, compared to low-psychosis women, would have a history of endorsing more emotional and social dysfunction during late childhood on a battery of instruments that measured social skills, perception of peer relations, emotional and asocial temperament, depressive symptoms, and feelings of loneliness (Social Skills Rating System: parent-and child-report, Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction Scale: child-report, Emotionality, Activity, and Sociability Temperament Survey: parent-and teacher-report, and the Child Symptom Inventory-4: parent-and child-report). Result(s): Consistent with hypotheses, as compared with adults with low psy-chosis ratings, those adults with high psychosis ratings had higher ratings of social and emotional functioning defcits, including lower social skills, more loneliness/social dissatisfaction, asociality, depression, and emotionality during childhood. All fndings were consistent across parent, teacher and child reports, with the exception of parents, but not teachers, reporting greater asociality, t(2016) =-2.85, P