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Influence of demographic characteristics on attenuated positive psychotic symptoms in a young, help‐seeking, at‐risk population
Author(s) -
Theodoridou Anastasia,
Hengartner Michael P.,
Heekeren Karsten,
Dvorsky Diane,
SchultzeLutter Frauke,
Gerstenberg Miriam,
Walitza Susanne,
Rössler Wulf
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
early intervention in psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.087
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1751-7893
pISSN - 1751-7885
DOI - 10.1111/eip.12444
Subject(s) - psychosis , bivariate analysis , psychology , demography , population , clinical psychology , analysis of variance , linear regression , psychiatry , medicine , statistics , mathematics , machine learning , sociology , computer science
Aim Presentation of attenuated positive psychotic symptoms ( APS ) was reported to be modestly influenced by age, sex and education in a psychosis‐risk sample. We re‐examined the influence of demographic variables on APS in an independent psychosis‐risk sample. Method In a clinical high‐risk‐sample (N = 188; 13‐35 years; 60.1% men), bivariate correlations were examined with Spearman correlations. All other associations were computed with generalized linear models. Results Inter‐correlations between positive symptoms were statistically significant for all but the smallest coefficient (range: r = 0.12‐0.49). Age was negatively related to APS (range: OR = 0.53‐0.78, all P < .01). Male sex was uniquely related to disorganized communication ( OR = 1.46) and a high education‐level related negatively to suspiciousness/persecutory ideas ( OR = 0.64), perceptual abnormalities/hallucinations ( OR = 0.57) and disorganized communication ( OR = 0.54). The variance explained by age ranged from R 2 = 0.044 for unusual thought content to R 2 = 0.144 for perceptual abnormalities. Conclusion Our results highlighted the role of age and, thereby, neurodevelopment in psychosis‐risk assessment.