Abstract
Having one parent diagnosed with a severe mental disorder is considered one of the main risk factors for developing that disorder in adulthood, and it also increases the risk of a wide range of mental disorders in the offspring. The aim of this study is to compare the prevalence of several psychopathological diagnoses, the presence of prodromal symptoms, and global functioning in offspring of parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and in offspring of controls at baseline and 2-year follow-up. This study included 41 offspring of parents with schizophrenia, 90 offspring of parents with bipolar disorder, and 107 offspring of controls (mean age 11.7 ± 3.2 at baseline and 13.9 ± 3.2 at follow-up). The prevalence of psychopathology and comorbidity was higher in offspring of parents with schizophrenia and offspring of parents with bipolar disorder than in offspring of controls at baseline and at 2-year follow-up. Interestingly, mood disorders were more prevalent in offspring of parents with bipolar disorder and disruptive disorders were more prevalent in offspring of parents with schizophrenia. Prodromal symptoms were more frequent in offspring of parents with schizophrenia than in offspring of controls, while the offspring of parents with bipolar disorder showed an intermediate pattern. Finally, global functioning was lower in the offspring of parents with schizophrenia than the offspring of parents with bipolar disorder and the offspring of controls. Screening patients’ children is clinically relevant, since, as a group, they have an elevated risk of developing a psychiatric disorder and of experiencing their first symptoms during childhood and adolescence.
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Acknowledgements
The authors of this report would like to thank the following organizations for their kind support: the Spanish Ministry of Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI070066; PI1100683; PI151500467; PI1700741; PI1800696), Fundació Marato TV3 (091630), the Catalonia Government (2017SGR881; SLT006/17/00346), co-financed by ERDF Funds from the European Commission, “A way of making Europe”, CIBERSAM, Madrid Regional Government (B2017/BMD-3740 AGES-CM-2), European Union Structural Fund and European Union Seventh Framework Program and H2020 Program, Fundación Familia Alonso, Fundación Alicia Koplowitz, and Fundación Mutua Madrileña. The authors would also like to thank the families who participated in this study, Ms Mireia Rosa and Marina Redondo for their help with data collection, and Mr Roger Borras for his statistical consulting.
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Drs. Elena De la Serna, Inmaculada Baeza, Elisa Rodríguez-Toscano, Anna Espliego, Miriam Ayora, Soledad Romero, and Josefina Castro-Fornieles have no conflicts of interest to declare. Dr. Vanessa Sanchez-Gistau received financial travel support from Otsuka, Janssen, and Lumbeck, and received fees for consulting and presenting from Otsuka and Janssen. Dr. Dolores Moreno received reimbursement from Rovi for her registration fees for the Spanish Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology Congress. Dr. Gisela Sugranyes received research support from Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, Programa PERIS Generalitat de Catalunya, ISCII, Otsuka, Janssen, and Adamed Pharma. She also received fees from Alicia Koplowitz Foundation. Dr. Daniel Ilzarbe received fees and travel support from Otsuka-Lundbeck and Janssen, as well as a Río Hortega grant from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and a grant from the Fundación Alicia Koplowitz.
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De la Serna, E., Ilzarbe, D., Sugranyes, G. et al. Lifetime psychopathology in child and adolescent offspring of parents diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder: a 2-year follow-up study. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 30, 117–129 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01500-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01500-z