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Self‐report of family functioning and risk for psychotic disorders in male adolescents with behavioural disturbances
Author(s) -
Weiser M.,
Reichenberg A.,
Werbeloff N.,
Kravitz E.,
Halperin D.,
Lubin G.,
Shmushkevitch M.,
Yoffe R.,
Addington J.,
Davidson M.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2007.01143.x
Subject(s) - psychosis , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , psychiatry , vulnerability (computing) , psychology , affect (linguistics) , clinical psychology , family history , hazard ratio , medicine , computer security , communication , computer science , confidence interval
Objective: Previous studies indicate that a poor family environment might affect vulnerability for the later manifestation of psychotic illness. The current study aims to examine family functioning prior to the onset of psychosis. Method: Subjects were 42 948, 17‐year old males with behavioural disturbances who were asked about the functioning of their family by the Israeli Draft Board. Data on later psychiatric hospitalizations were obtained from a National Psychiatric Hospitalization Registry. Results: Poorer self‐reported family functioning was associated with greater risk for later hospitalization for psychosis [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.05–1.27], with a trend in the same direction for schizophrenia (adjusted HR = 1.1, 95% CI = 0.98–1.24). Conclusion: In male adolescents with behavioural disturbances, perceived poorer family functioning is associated with increased risk for non‐affective psychotic disorders and schizophrenia. These data do not enable us to determine if perceived familial dysfunction increases vulnerability for psychosis, if premorbid behavioural abnormalities disrupt family life, or neither.