Evidence That the Impact of Childhood Trauma on IQ Is Substantial in Controls, Moderate in Siblings, and Absent in Patients With Psychotic Disorder

Jim van Os*, Anne Marsman, Daniela van Dam, Claudia J. P. Simons, Genetic Risk and Outcome of Psychosis (GROUP) Investigators

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Research suggests that childhood trauma is associated with cognitive alterations, but it is not known whether the cognitive alterations observed in patients with psychotic disorder, and their relatives, is trauma-related. Patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum diagnosis (n = 1119), siblings of patients (n = 1059) and healthy comparison subjects (HCS; n = 586) were interviewed 3 times over a period of 6 years. Repeated measures of IQ were analyzed as a function of childhood trauma and group, controlling for confounders. There were significant differences in the impact of childhood trauma on IQ across the 3 groups. Exposure in HCS was associated with a nearly 5-point reduction in IQ (-4.85; 95% confidence interval [ CI]: -7.98 to -1.73, P =.002), a lesser reduction in siblings (-2.58; 95% CI: -4.69 to -0.46, P =.017) and no significant reduction in patients (-0.84; 95% CI: -2.78 to 1.10, P =.398). One-fourth of the sibling-control difference in IQ was reducible to childhood trauma, whereas for patients this was only 5%. Over the 6-year follow-up, those with trauma exposure showed significantly less learning effects with repeated cognitive assessments (b = 1.36, 95% CI: 0.80. 1.92, P

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)316-324
Number of pages9
JournalSchizophrenia Bulletin
Volume43
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2017

Keywords

  • psychosis
  • trauma
  • cognition
  • genetics
  • SEVERE MENTAL-ILLNESS
  • COGNITIVE DEFICITS
  • SCHIZOAFFECTIVE DISORDER
  • MALTREATED CHILDREN
  • NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS
  • HEALTHY-ADULTS
  • SCHIZOPHRENIA
  • PTSD
  • ASSOCIATION
  • RELIABILITY

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