Social environmental risk factors for transition to psychosis in an Ultra-High Risk population

Brian O'Donoghue; Barnaby Nelson; Hok Pan Yuen; Abbie Lane; Stephen Wood; Andrew Thompson; Ashleigh Lin; Patrick McGorry; Alison R Yung

doi:10.1016/j.schres.2014.10.050

Social environmental risk factors for transition to psychosis in an Ultra-High Risk population

Schizophr Res. 2015 Feb;161(2-3):150-5. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2014.10.050. Epub 2014 Nov 28.

Authors

Brian O'Donoghue¹, Barnaby Nelson², Hok Pan Yuen², Abbie Lane³, Stephen Wood⁴, Andrew Thompson⁵, Ashleigh Lin⁵, Patrick McGorry², Alison R Yung⁶

Affiliations

¹ Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, 35 Poplar rd, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland; Division of Mental Health and Wellbeing, University of Warwick, UK. Electronic address: briannoelodonoghue@gmail.com.
² Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, 35 Poplar rd, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
³ University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
⁴ School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK; Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Australia.
⁶ Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, 35 Poplar rd, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.

PMID: 25439392
DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2014.10.050

Abstract

Objective: Despite social environmental factors such as deprivation, urbanicity, migration and adversity being established risk factors for psychotic disorders, there is a paucity of knowledge on the influence of social environmental risk factors in the UHR population. Firstly, we aimed to investigate the association between social deprivation and risk of transition and secondly, we aimed to investigate the association between migration status and the risk of transition.

Method: UHR individuals at the Personal Assessment and Crisis Evaluation (PACE) service in Melbourne were included. Social deprivation as assessed according to postal code area of residence was obtained from census data and Cox regression analysis was used to calculate hazard ratios.

Results: A total of 219 UHR individuals were included and over the median follow-up time of 4.8years, 32 individuals (14.6%) were known to have transitioned to a psychotic disorder. 8.8% of UHR individuals were first generation migrants and 41.9% were second generation migrants. The level of social deprivation was not associated with the risk of transition (p=0.83). Similarly, first or second generation migrants did not have an increased risk of transition to psychosis (p=0.84).

Conclusions: Despite being established risk factors for psychotic disorders, social deprivation and migrant status have not been found to increase the risk of transition in a UHR population.

Keywords: Migrants; Psychosis; Social deprivation; Ultra-High Risk for psychosis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Prodromal Symptoms*
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychotic Disorders / epidemiology*
Psychotic Disorders / psychology*
Regression Analysis
Risk
Risk Factors
Social Environment*
Social Isolation / psychology
Transients and Migrants / psychology
Young Adult