Early childhood maternal separation predicts later schizophrenia symptoms
April 2008
17 April 2008

MedWire News: Children who are separated from their mothers in the first 2 years of life are more likely to develop schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) symptoms than other children, particularly if they showed early angry emotional behavior, say US scientists.

There is increasing evidence that early childhood experiences have an effect on the development of psychosis and schizophrenia in adulthood. However, the majority of this research has focused on early developmental delays, maltreatment, attachment problems, and parental loss, explain Deidre Anglin and colleagues from Columbia University in New York.

To examine the impact of early maternal separation, the researchers studied 766 children born in 1975 and followed-up at least twice in 1985-1986, 1991-1993, or 2001-2004.

The team used the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire, the Children in the Community-Self-Report SPD symptom scale, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorder Schizotypal Screen, and the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale, as well as maternal interviews in 1975 and 1983.

Seventeen participants experienced separations of at least 1 month between birth and 2 years of age, while 18 had separations between 3 and 5 years of age. Reasons for separation were maternal hospitalization or illness in 13 cases and offspring hospitalization or illness in five cases, with the remainder categorized as "other."

Children separated from their mother for at least 1 month during the first 5 years of life had a significant increase in average SPD symptoms in comparison with other children. Further analysis showed that the effect was largely due to separation during the first 2 years of life, with a 0.30% increase in SPD symptoms for each week of separation during the first 2 years, compared with an increase of just 0.11% for years 2-5.

The reason for separation was not linked to SPD symptoms. However, children who reported more behavioral evidence of maternal affection at an average age of 13.7 years were less likely to report SPD symptoms, while children with an angry temperament were more likely to report symptoms. The effects of separation on SPD symptoms were found to be due to higher mother-reported angry offspring temperament.

"Our findings point to an understudied area of risk with regard to schizophrenia spectrum disorders," the team writes in the journal Schizophrenia Research.

They add: "In addressing the need to adequately measure 'environment' in gene-environment schizophrenia studies, more attention should focus on early psychological experiences that may put both genetically vulnerable offspring and perhaps also those without clear genetic vulnerability at risk."

http://www.inpsychiatry.com/news/article.aspx?id=74364
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