Childhood dyspraxia predicts adult-onset nonaffective-psychosis-spectrum disorder

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Jason Schiffman
  • Vijay Mittal
  • Emily Kline
  • Mortensen, Erik Lykke
  • Niels Michelsen
  • Morten Ekstrom
  • Zachary B. Millman
  • Sarnoff A. Mednick
  • Holger J. Sorensen

Several neurological variables have been investigated as premorbid biomarkers of vulnerability for schizophrenia and other related disorders. The current study examined whether childhood dyspraxia predicted later adult nonaffective-psychosis-spectrum disorders. From a standardized neurological examination performed with children (aged 10-13) at genetic high risk of schizophrenia and controls, several measures of dyspraxia were used to create a scale composed of face/head dyspraxia, oral articulation, ideomotor dyspraxia (clumsiness), and dressing dyspraxia (n = 244). Multinomial logistic regression showed higher scores on the dyspraxia scale predict nonaffective-psychosis-spectrum disorders relative to other psychiatric disorders and no mental illness outcomes, even after controlling for genetic risk, χ2 (4, 244) = 18.61, p <.001. Findings that symptoms of dyspraxia in childhood (reflecting abnormalities spanning functionally distinct brain networks) specifically predict adult nonaffective-psychosis-spectrum disorders are consistent with a theory of abnormal connectivity, and they highlight a marked early-stage vulnerability in the pathophysiology of nonaffective-psychosis-spectrum disorders.

Original languageEnglish
JournalDevelopment and Psychopathology
Volume27
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)1323-1330
ISSN0954-5794
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

ID: 203889712