This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Jim van Os, MSc, PhD; Peter Jones, MSc; Glyn Lewis, MSc, PhD; Michael Wadsworth, MPhil, PhD; Robin Murray, DSc

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1997;54(7):625-631.

Abstract
Background
Recent evidence suggests that neurodevelopmental impairment may be a risk factor for later affective disorder.

Methods
Associations between childhood developmental characteristics and affective disorder were examined in a prospectively studied national British birth cohort of 5362 individuals born between March 3 and March 9, 1946. Mental state examinations by trained interviewers performed at ages 36 and 43 years identified 270 case subjects with adult affective disorder (AD). Teachers' questionnaires completed at age 13 and 15 years identified 195 case subjects who had shown evidence of childhood affective disturbance (CAD).

Results
Female gender and low educational test scores at ages 8, 11, and 15 years were a risk factor for AD, CAD, and AD without CAD. In addition, attainment of motor milestones was later in the CAD group (odds ratio [OR] =1.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-1.3), followed by, and independent of, greater risk for speech defects between the ages of 6 and 15 years (OR=2.0; 95% CI, 1.3-3.0), decreased psychomotor alertness on medical examination between ages 4 and 11 years (OR=4.6; 95% CI, 2.2-9.7), and an excess of twitching and grimacing motor behaviors in adolescence (OR=3.9; 95% CI, 2.5-6.1). Persistent CAD was strongly associated with persistent AD (OR=7.8; 95% CI, 2.6-23.2).

Conclusion
The findings give credence to the suggestion that affective disorder, especially its early-onset form, is preceded by impaired neurodevelopment.

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, University of Maastricht, European Graduate School of Neuroscience, Maastricht, the Netherlands (Dr van Os); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England (Dr Jones); the Department of Community and Epidemiological Psychiatry, Division of Psychological Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff (Dr Lewis); MRC National Survey of Health and Development and the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London Medical School, London, England (Dr Wadsworth); and the Department of Psychological Medicine and Social, Genetic and Developmental Research Centre Institute of Psychiatry, London (Dr Murray).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Does Adolescent Affect Impact Adult Social Integration? Evidence from the British 1946 Birth Cohort
Hatch and Wadsworth
Sociology 2008;42:155-177.
ABSTRACT  

Biological, Life Course, and Cross-Cultural Studies All point Toward the Value of Dimensional and Developmental Ratings in the Classification of Psychosis
Dutta et al.
Schizophr Bull 2007;33:868-876.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Childhood and Adulthood Psychological Ill Health as Predictors of Midlife Affective and Anxiety Disorders: The 1958 British Birth Cohort
Clark et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2007;64:668-678.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Forty-Year Psychiatric Outcomes Following Assessment for Internalizing Disorder in Adolescence
Colman et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2007;164:126-133.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Birth weight and psychological distress at age 45-51 years: Results from the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s cohort study
WILES et al.
Br. J. Psychiatry 2005;187:21-28.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Childhood predictors of future psychiatric morbidity in offspring of mothers with psychotic disorder: Results from the Helsinki High-Risk Study
NIEMI et al.
Br. J. Psychiatry 2005;186:108-114.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Low intelligence test scores in 18 year old men and risk of suicide: cohort study
Gunnell et al.
BMJ 2005;330:167.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Behavioral Outcomes and Evidence of Psychopathology Among Very Low Birth Weight Infants at Age 20 Years
Hack et al.
Pediatrics 2004;114:932-940.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Longitudinal Study of Premorbid IQ Score and Risk of Developing Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Severe Depression, and Other Nonaffective Psychoses
Zammit et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2004;61:354-360.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Sex Matters in Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities
Thompson et al.
J Intellect Disabil 2003;7:345-362.
ABSTRACT  

Cross-National Comparisons of Seafood Consumption and Rates of Bipolar Disorders
Noaghiul and Hibbeln
Am. J. Psychiatry 2003;160:2222-2227.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

CORRELATES OF EXTERNALIZING SYMPTOMS IN CHILDREN FROM FAMILIES OF ALCOHOLICS AND CONTROLS
Schuckit et al.
Alcohol Alcohol 2003;38:559-567.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Family Disruption in Childhood and Risk of Adult Depression
Gilman et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2003;160:939-946.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Developmental precursors of child- and adolescent-onset schizophrenia and affective psychoses: diagnostic specificity and continuity with symptom dimensions
HOLLIS
Br. J. Psychiatry 2003;182:37-44.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Population-Based Cohort Study of Premorbid Intellectual, Language, and Behavioral Functioning in Patients With Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder, and Nonpsychotic Bipolar Disorder
Reichenberg et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2002;159:2027-2035.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The neuropathology of primary mood disorder
Harrison
Brain 2002;125:1428-1449.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Are Impaired Childhood Motor Skills a Risk Factor for Adolescent Anxiety? Results From the 1958 U.K. Birth Cohort and the National Child Development Study
Sigurdsson et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2002;159:1044-1046.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Chorion Type and Twin Similarity for Child Psychiatric Symptoms
Wichers et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2002;59:562-564.
FULL TEXT  

Evidence for Early-Childhood, Pan-Developmental Impairment Specific to Schizophreniform Disorder: Results From a Longitudinal Birth Cohort
Cannon et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2002;59:449-456.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Long-term affective disorder in people with mild learning disability
RICHARDS et al.
Br. J. Psychiatry 2001;179:523-527.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Neuroticism, life events and mental health: evidence for person--environment correlation
OS et al.
Br. J. Psychiatry 2001;178 :s72-s77.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Children's Self-Reported Psychotic Symptoms and Adult Schizophreniform Disorder: A 15-Year Longitudinal Study
Poulton et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2000;57:1053-1058.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

No association between breast-feeding and adult psychosis in two national birth cohorts
LEASK et al.
Br. J. Psychiatry 2000;177:218-221.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Kraepelinian Dichotomy: Evidence From Developmental and Neuroimaging Studies
Curtis et al.
J. Neuropsychiatry Clin. Neurosi. 2000;12:398-405.
FULL TEXT  

The Development of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry
Am. J. Psychiatry 2000;157:159-161.
FULL TEXT  

Further Evidence of Relation Between Prenatal Famine and Major Affective Disorder
Brown et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2000;157:190-195.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Behavioral and Intellectual Markers for Schizophrenia in Apparently Healthy Male Adolescents
Davidson et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 1999;156:1328-1335.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

School Performance in Finnish Children and Later Development of Schizophrenia: A Population-Based Longitudinal Study
Cannon et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1999;56:457-463.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Violent suicide and obstetric complications
Appleby
BMJ 1998;317:1333-1334.
FULL TEXT  

Schizophrenia as a Long-Term Outcome of Pregnancy, Delivery, and Perinatal Complications: A 28-Year Follow-Up of the 1966 North Finland General Population Birth Cohort
Jones et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 1998;155:355-364.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT