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A dimensional approach to assessing psychiatric risk in adults born very preterm

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2018

Jasmin Kroll ,
Sean Froudist-Walsh ,
Philip J. Brittain ,
Chieh-En J. Tseng ,
Vyacheslav Karolis ,
Robin M. Murray  and
Chiara Nosarti
Jasmin Kroll
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
Sean Froudist-Walsh
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1470 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10029, USA
Philip J. Brittain
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
Chieh-En J. Tseng
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
Vyacheslav Karolis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
Robin M. Murray
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
Chiara Nosarti*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK Centre for the Developing Brain, Department of Perinatal Imaging and Health, King's College London, St Thomas’ Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Chiara Nosarti, E-mail: chiara.nosarti@kcl.ac.uk
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Abstract

Background

Individuals who were born very preterm have higher rates of psychiatric diagnoses compared with term-born controls; however, it remains unclear whether they also display increased sub-clinical psychiatric symptomatology. Hence, our objective was to utilize a dimensional approach to assess psychiatric symptomatology in adult life following very preterm birth.

Methods

We studied 152 adults who were born very preterm (before 33 weeks’ gestation; gestational range 24–32 weeks) and 96 term-born controls. Participants’ clinical profile was examined using the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States (CAARMS), a measure of sub-clinical symptomatology that yields seven subscales including general psychopathology, positive, negative, cognitive, behavioural, motor and emotional symptoms, in addition to a total psychopathology score. Intellectual abilities were examined using the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence.

Results

Between-group differences on the CAARMS showed elevated symptomatology in very preterm participants compared with controls in positive, negative, cognitive and behavioural symptoms. Total psychopathology scores were significantly correlated with IQ in the very preterm group only. In order to examine the characteristics of participants’ clinical profile, a principal component analysis was conducted. This revealed two components, one reflecting a non-specific psychopathology dimension, and the other indicating a variance in symptomatology along a positive-to-negative symptom axis. K-means (k = 4) were used to further separate the study sample into clusters. Very preterm adults were more likely to belong to a high non-specific psychopathology cluster compared with controls.

Conclusion and Relevance

Very preterm individuals demonstrated elevated psychopathology compared with full-term controls. Their psychiatric risk was characterized by a non-specific clinical profile and was associated with lower IQ.

Keywords

developmental riskdimensional psychiatrypretermpsychopathologyneurodevelopment

Information

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 48 , Issue 10 , July 2018 , pp. 1738 - 1744
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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Footnotes

*

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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