1. Objectifs

Intentions :
The study explores the «effect of childhood maltreatment on the cognitive precursors of adult psychoses in children and adolescents at high genetic risk for psychosis.» (p. 342)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«We hypothesized that children and adolescents at high risk for major psychoses who were exposed to childhood maltreatment would have greater cognitive dysfunctions that are known to be later associated with psychoses than nonexposed offspring.» (p. 337) Also, «[c]ontrol participants were recruited among the same population through advertisements.» (p. 337)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«For the present study, we selected participants among 48 multigenerational families comprising an average number of 6 members affected by schizophrenia or BD [bipolar disorder] per family.» (p. 337)

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«Exposed offspring displayed poorer cognitive performance than nonexposed offspring in terms of full-scale IQ, visual episodic memory and executive functions of initiation. Offspring exposed to childhood maltreatment also expressed an aggregation of cognitive deficits that was associated with early impairments in social functioning. Our findings add to the emerging evidence that psychoses may be the adult end-point of a declining cognitive trajectory starting in childhood. Our results suggest a mediating developmental mechanism for the established association between childhood maltreatment and later psychoses. They may also relate to recent findings that the offspring of parents with affective psychosis who transitioned to psychosis were more likely to have been exposed to abuse than those who did not transition to psychosis.» (p. 337-338)