Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T06:27:31.470Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Childhood adversity and psychosis: Examining whether the association is due to genetic confounding using a monozygotic twin differences approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2012

S. Alemany ,
X. Goldberg ,
R. van Winkel ,
C. Gastó ,
V. Peralta  and
L. Fañanás
S. Alemany
Affiliation:
Anthropology Unit, Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Avenue Diagonal 643, 08028Barcelona, Spain Biomedicine Institute of the University of Barcelona (IBUB), Diagonal, 645, 08028Barcelona, Spain Centre for Biomedical Research Network on Mental Health (CIBERSAM), Doctor Esquerdo, 46, 28007Madrid, Spain
X. Goldberg
Affiliation:
Anthropology Unit, Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Avenue Diagonal 643, 08028Barcelona, Spain Biomedicine Institute of the University of Barcelona (IBUB), Diagonal, 645, 08028Barcelona, Spain Centre for Biomedical Research Network on Mental Health (CIBERSAM), Doctor Esquerdo, 46, 28007Madrid, Spain
R. van Winkel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Minderbroedersberg, 4-6, 6211LK Maastricht, The Netherlands University Psychiatric Centre Catholic University Leuven, Campus Kortenberg, Leuvensesteeweg, 517, 3070Kortengerg, Belgium
C. Gastó
Affiliation:
Biomedicine Institute of the University of Barcelona (IBUB), Diagonal, 645, 08028Barcelona, Spain Department of Psychiatry, Clinical Institute of Neurosciences, Hospital Clínic, Villaorroel, 170, 08036Barcelona, Spain Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Rosselló, 149-153, 08036Barcelona, Spain
V. Peralta
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Section B, Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra, Irunlarrea, 4, 31008Pamplona, Spain
L. Fañanás*
Affiliation:
Anthropology Unit, Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Avenue Diagonal 643, 08028Barcelona, Spain Biomedicine Institute of the University of Barcelona (IBUB), Diagonal, 645, 08028Barcelona, Spain Centre for Biomedical Research Network on Mental Health (CIBERSAM), Doctor Esquerdo, 46, 28007Madrid, Spain
*
⁎Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 93 402 1461; fax: +34 93 403 5740. E-mail address: lfananas@ub.edu (L. Fañanás).
Get access

Abstract

Purpose

To test whether the association between childhood adversity and positive and negative psychotic experiences is due to genetic confounding.

Method

Childhood adversity and psychotic experiences were assessed in an ongoing sample of 226 twins from the general population. A monozygotic (MZ) twin differences approach was used to assess possible genetic confounding.

Results

In the whole sample, childhood adversity was significantly associated with positive (β = 45; SE = 0.16; P = 0.008) and negative psychotic experiences (β = 0.77; SE = 0.18; P < 0.01). Within-pair MZ twin differences in exposure to childhood adversity were significantly associated with differences in positive (β = 71; SE = 0.29; P = 0.016) and negative psychotic experiences (β = 98; SE = 0.38; P = 0.014) in a subsample of 85 MZ twin pairs.

Conclusions

Individuals exposed to childhood adversity are more likely to report psychotic experiences. Furthermore, our findings indicate that this association is not due to genetic confounding.

Keywords

Schizophrenia and psychosisGeneticsStressChild abuse
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , May 2013 , pp. 207 - 212
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alemany, S.Arias, B.Aguilera, M.Villa, H.Moya, J.Ibanez, M.I.et al.Childhood abuse, the BDNF-Val66Met polymorphism and adult psychotic-like experiences. Br J Psychiatry 2011;199:38–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (Revised 4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press; 2000.Google Scholar
Anda, R.F.Felitti, V.J.Bremner, J.D.Walker, J.D.Whitfield, C.Perry, B.D.et al.The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood. A convergence of evidence from neurobiology and epidemiology. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2006;256(3):174–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arseneault, L.Cannon, M.Fisher, H.L.Polanczyk, G.Moffitt, T.E.Caspi, A.Childhood trauma and children's emerging psychotic symptoms: a genetically sensitive longitudinal cohort study. Am J Psychiatry 2011;168(1):65–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bak, M.Krabbendam, L.Janssen, I.de Graaf, R.Vollebergh, W.van Os, J.Early trauma may increase the risk for psychotic experiences by impacting on emotional response and perception of control. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2005;112(5):360–366.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barragan, M.Laurens, K.R.Navarro, J.B.Obiols, J.E.Psychotic-like experiences and depressive symptoms in a community sample of adolescents. Eur Psychiatry 2011;26(6):396–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bebbington, P.E.Bhugra, D.Brugha, T.Singleton, N.Farrell, M.Jenkins, R.et al.Psychosis, victimisation and childhood disadvantage: evidence from the second British National Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity. Br J Psychiatry 2004;185:220–226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bendall, S.Jackson, H.J.Hulbert, C.A.McGorry, P.D.Childhood trauma and psychotic disorders: a systematic, critical review of the evidence. Schizophr Bull 2008;34(3):568–579.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boomsma, D.Busjahn, A.Peltonen, L.Classical twin studies and beyond. Nat Rev Genet 2002;3(11):872–882.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bremner, J.D.Vermetten, E.Stress and development: behavioral and biological consequences. Dev Psychopathol 2001;13:473–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlin, J.B.Gurrin, L.C.Sterne, J.A.Morley, R.Dwyer, T.Regression models for twin studies: a critical review. Int J Epidemiol 2005;34(5):1089–1099.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caspi, A.Moffitt, T.E.Morgan, J.Rutter, M.Taylor, A.Arseneault, L.et al.Maternal expressed emotion predicts children's antisocial behavior problems: using monozygotic-twin differences to identify environmental effects on behavioral development. Dev Psychol 2004;40(2):149–161.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cirino, P.T.Chin, C.E.Sevcik, R.A.Wolf, M.Lovett, M.Morris, R.D.Measuring socioeconomic status: reliability and preliminary validity for different approaches. Assessment 2002;9(2):145–155.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dominguez, M.D.Wichers, M.Lieb, R.Wittchen, H.U.van Os, J.Evidence that onset of clinical psychosis is an outcome of progressively more persistent subclinical psychotic experiences: an 8-year cohort study. Schizophr Bull 2011;37(1):84–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards-Hewitt, T.Gray, J.J.Comparison of measures of socioeconomic status between ethnic groups. Psychol Rep 1995;77:699–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Felitti, V.J.Anda, R.F.Nordenberg, D.Williamson, D.F.Spitz, A.M.Edwards, V.et al.Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Am J Prev Med 1998;14(4):245–258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
First, M.S.R.L.Gibbon, M.Strcuctured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders - Clinical Version (SCID-CV). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press; 1997.Google Scholar
Fisher, H.L.Jones, P.B.Fearon, P.Craig, T.K.Dazzan, P.Morgan, K.et al.The varying impact of type, timing and frequency of exposure to childhood adversity on its association with adult psychotic disorder. Psychol Med 2010;24:1–12.Google Scholar
Gracie, A.Freeman, D.Green, S.Garety, P.A.Kuipers, E.Hardy, A.et al.The association between traumatic experience, paranoia and hallucinations: a test of the predictions of psychological models. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2007;116(4):280–289.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gunnar, M.Quevedo, K.The neurobiology of stress and development. Annu Rev Psychol 2007;58:145–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gutman, D.A.Nemeroff, C.B.Neurobiology of early life stress: rodent studies. Semin Clin Neuropsychiatry 2002;7(2):89–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hardt, J.Rutter, M.Validity of adult retrospective reports of adverse childhood experiences: review of the evidence. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2004 45(2):260–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollingshead AB. Four factor index of social status. Yale University, New Haven, CT: Unpublished manuscript; 1975.Google Scholar
Janssen, I.Krabbendam, L.Bak, M.Hanssen, M.Vollebergh, W.de Graaf, R.et al.Childhood abuse as a risk factor for psychotic experiences. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2004;109(1):38–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johns, L.C.van Os, J.The continuity of psychotic experiences in the general population. Clin Psychol Rev 2001;21(8):1125–1141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelleher, I.Cannon, M.Psychotic-like experiences in the general population: characterizing a high-risk group for psychosis. Psychol Med 2011;41(1):1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelleher, I.Harley, M.Lynch, F.Arseneault, L.Fitzpatrick, C.Cannon, M.Associations between childhood trauma, bullying and psychotic symptoms among a school-based adolescent sample. Br J Psychiatry 2008;193(5):378–382.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krabbendam, L.Childhood psychological trauma and psychosis. Psychol Med 2008;38(10):1405–1408.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Linscott, R.J.van Os, J.Systematic reviews of categorical versus continuum models in psychosis: evidence for discontinuous subpopulations underlying a psychometric continuum. Implications for DSM-V, DSM-VI, and DSM-VII. Annu Rev Clin Psychol 2010;27(6):391–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nemeroff, C.B.Neurobiological consequences of childhood trauma. J Clin Psychiatry 2004;65(Suppl 1):18–28.Google ScholarPubMed
Pfeifer, S.Krabbendam, L.Myin-Germeys, I.Derom, C.Wichers, M.Jacobs, N.et al.A cognitive intermediate phenotype study confirming possible gene-early adversity interaction in psychosis outcome: a general population twin study. Psychosis 2010;2:1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pike, A.Reiss, D.Hetherington, E.M.Plomin, R.Using MZ differences in the search for nonshared environmental effects. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1996;37(6):695–704.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Price, T.S.Freeman, B.Craig, I.Petrill, S.A.Ebersole, L.Plomin, R.Infant zygosity can be assigned by parental report questionnaire data. Twin Res 2000;3(3):129–133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Purcell, S.Statistical Methods in Behavioral Genetics. De Fries, R.P.McClearn, J.McGuffin, G.P., editors. Behavioral Genetics (5th Ed) New York: Worth Publishers; 2008 p. 359–410.Google Scholar
Rutter, M.Pickles, A.Murray, R.Eaves, L.Testing hypotheses on specific environmental causal effects on behavior. Psychol Bull 2001;127(3):291–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sattler, J.Assessment of Children: Cognitive Applications. San Diego: Jerome M. Sattler, Publisher, Inc; 2008.Google Scholar
Simons, C.J.Wichers, M.Derom, C.Thiery, E.Myin-Germeys, I.Krabbendam, L.et al.Subtle gene-environment interactions driving paranoia in daily life. Genes Brain Behav 2009;8(1):5–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spauwen, J.Krabbendam, L.Lieb, R.Wittchen, H.U.van Os, J.Impact of psychological trauma on the development of psychotic symptoms: relationship with psychosis proneness. Br J Psychiatry 2006;188:527–533.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
StataCorp. Stata Statistical Software: Release 10: Statacorp LP, College Station, TX.; 2007.Google Scholar
Stefanis, N.C.Hanssen, M.Smirnis, N.K.Avramopoulos, D.A.Evdokimidis, I.K.Stefanis, C.N.et al.Evidence that three dimensions of psychosis have a distribution in the general population. Psychol Med 2002;32(2):347–358.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Os, J.Sham, P.Gene-environment correlation and interaction in schizophrenia. Murray, R.M.Jones, P.B.Susser, E.Van Os, J.Cannon, M., editors. The Epidemiology od Schizophrenia Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2003 p. 235–53.Google Scholar
Van Os, J.Verdoux, H.Maurice-Tison, S.Gay, B.Liraud, F.Salamon, R.et al.Self-reported psychosis-like symptoms and the continuum of psychosis. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 1999;34(9):459–463.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Os, J.Krabbendam, L.Myin-Germeys, I.Delespaul, P.The schizophrenia envirome. Curr Opin Psychiatry 2005;18(2):141–145.Google ScholarPubMed
Van Os, J.Linscott, R.J.Myin-Germeys, I.Delespaul, P.Krabbendam, L.A systematic review and meta-analysis of the psychosis continuum: evidence for a psychosis proneness-persistence-impairment model of psychotic disorder. Psychol Med 2009;39(2):179–195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Os, J.Kenis, G.Rutten, B.P.The environment and schizophrenia. Nature 2010;468(7321):203–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Winkel, R.Stefanis, N.C.Myin-Germeys, I.Psychosocial stress and psychosis. A review of the neurobiological mechanisms and the evidence for gene-stress interaction. Schizophr Bull 2008;34(6):1095–1105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Viding, E.Fontaine, N.M.Oliver, B.R.Plomin, R.Negative parental discipline, conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits: monozygotic twin differences study. Br J Psychiatry 2009;195(5):414–419.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wechsler, D.Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Third Edition: Administration and Scoring Manual. London: The Psychological Corporation; 1997.Google Scholar
Welham, J.Isohanni, M.Jones, P.McGrath, J.The antecedents of schizophrenia: a review of birth cohort studies. Schizophr Bull 2009;35(3):603–623.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wigman, J.T.van Winkel, R.Jacobs, N.Wichers, M.Derom, C.Thiery, E.et al.A twin study of genetic and environmental determinants of abnormal persistence of psychotic experiences in young adulthood. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 2011;156(5):546–552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R.L.A note on robust variance estimation for cluster-correlated data. Biometrics 2000;56(2):645–646CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.