Citation

Velikonja T, Velthorst E, Zinberg J, Cannon TD, Cornblatt BA, Perkins DO, Cadenhead KS, Tsuang MT, Addington J, Woods SW, McGlashan T, Mathalon DH, Stone W, Keshavan M, Seidman L, Bearden CE. Dev. Psychopathol. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Psychology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Cambridge University Press)

DOI

10.1017/S095457941900155X

PMID

31959269

Abstract

Evidence suggests that early trauma may have a negative effect on cognitive functioning in individuals with psychosis, yet the relationship between childhood trauma and cognition among those at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis remains unexplored. Our sample consisted of 626 CHR children and 279 healthy controls who were recruited as part of the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study 2. Childhood trauma up to the age of 16 (psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and bullying) was assessed by using the Childhood Trauma and Abuse Scale. Multiple domains of cognition were measured at baseline and at the time of psychosis conversion, using standardized assessments. In the CHR group, there was a trend for better performance in individuals who reported a history of multiple types of childhood trauma compared with those with no/one type of trauma (Cohen d = 0.16). A history of multiple trauma types was not associated with greater cognitive change in CHR converters over time. Our findings tentatively suggest there may be different mechanisms that lead to CHR states. Individuals who are at clinical high risk who have experienced multiple types of childhood trauma may have more typically developing premorbid cognitive functioning than those who reported minimal trauma do. Further research is needed to unravel the complexity of factors underlying the development of at-risk states.

Language: en

Keywords

childhood trauma; clinical high risk; nonsocial cognition; psychosis; social cognition