Stressful Life Events and Schizophrenia

1993 ◽  
Vol 162 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross M. G. Norman ◽  
Ashok K. Malla
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Life Event ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Stress Models ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

Empirical research concerning the relationship between life event stressors and schizophrenia is critically reviewed. In accordance with the view that patients suffering from schizophrenia are vulnerable to stress, there is evidence of a relationship between stressors and variation in severity of symptoms over time. There is less indication that schizophrenic patients have had higher levels of stressors than the general population or than patients suffering from other psychiatric disorders. These findings are consistent with vulnerability-stress models of the development of schizophrenia.

Prenatal exposure to maternal stressful life events and earlier age at menarche: the Raine Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
E V Bräuner ◽  
T Koch ◽  
A Juul ◽  
D A Doherty ◽  
R Hart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Stress ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Prenatal Stress ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Maternal Stress ◽  
Stressful Life Event ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Age At Menarche ◽  
Complete Case ◽  
Life Event

Abstract STUDY QUESTION Is there an association between prenatal exposure to stressful life events and age at menarche, and does childhood BMI mediate this association? SUMMARY ANSWER Girls exposed to prenatal stress had a slightly earlier age at menarche, but this association did not show a dose-response effect and was not mediated by childhood offspring BMI. WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN Prenatal stress may impact on reproductive function in females including age at menarche, but human data are very limited. High childhood BMI is known to be associated with earlier age at menarche. Only one small study has measured the association between maternal stress and age at menarche and reported that childhood BMI mediated the association between maternal stress and earlier age at menarche. However, neither maternal stress nor age at menarche was prospectively recorded and the study was limited to 31 mother–daughter pairs. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION The Raine Study is a large prospective population-based pregnancy cohort study (n = 1414 mother–daughter pairs) continuously followed from prenatal life through to adolescence. In the present study, we examined the association between exposure to maternal stressful life events during early, late and total gestation and age at menarche in offspring using 753 mother–daughter pairs with complete case information. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Mothers prospectively reported stressful life events during pregnancy at 18 and 34 weeks using a standardized 10-point questionnaire. Exact date of menarche was assessed using a purpose-designed questionnaire at 8, 10, 14 and 17 years of age. Complete information on exposure, outcome and confounding variables was obtained from 753 mothers–daughter pairs. Multivariate linear regression complete case analysis was used to examine associations between maternal stressful life event exposure and age at menarche. Potential selection bias was evaluated using multiple imputations (50 datasets). The mediating effects of offspring childhood BMI (ages 5, 8, or 10 years) on these associations were measured in separate sub-analyses. MAIN RESULTS AND ROLE OF CHANCE Most (580/753, 77%) daughters were exposed to at least one prenatal stressful life event. Exposure to maternal stressful life events during the entire pregnancy was associated with a non-linear earlier age at menarche. Exposure to one event and two or more psychological stressful events was associated with a 3.5 and 1.7-month earlier onset of puberty, respectively when compared to the reference group with no exposure maternal stressful life events. The estimates from multiple imputation with 50 datasets were comparable with complete case analysis confirming the existence of an underlying effect. No separate significant effects were observed for exposure during early or late gestation. The association between prenatal stressful events and age at menarche was not mediated by childhood BMI in the offspring. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION Stressful life events may have affected pregnant women in different ways and self-perceived maternal stress severity may have provided a more precise estimate of gestational psychological stress. The observed non-linear U-shape of the association between maternal psychological stress and age at menarche did not reflect a dose-response. This suggests that the first exposure to prenatal stress exerts a greater effect on fetal reproductive development. A potential mechanism is via dramatic initial activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis following the first stressful life event which is greater than that observed following subsequent exposure to two or more maternal stressful life events. Whilst we adjusted for a priori chosen confounders, we cannot exclude residual confounding or confounding by factors we did not include. Maternal age at menarche was not available so the effects of familial history/genetics could not be assessed. There was a large loss due to the number of girls with no information on date of menarche and missing confounder information implying risk of selection bias and multiple imputation analyses did not fully exclude this risk (similar direction but slightly weaker estimate magnitude). WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Menarche is a sentinel reproductive event and earlier age at menarche carries implications for psychological, social and reproductive health and for long-term risk of common non-communicable diseases. Understanding the factors regulating age at menarche has extensive health implications. This is the first population-based cohort study in humans to demonstrate that prenatal psychological stress might directly modify age at menarche. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) Dr. Bräuner and Trine Koch’s salaries were supported by Doctor Sofus Carl Emil Friis and spouse Olga Doris Friis foundation, The Danish Cancer Society (Kræftens Bekæmpelse, RP15468, R204-A12636, Denmark) and The Danish Health Foundation (Helsefonden, F-22181-23, Denmark). Martha Hickey was funded by NHMRC Practitioner Fellowships. The funding bodies played no role in the design, collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. Dr. Hart has received personal fees in his function as the Medical Director of Fertility Specialists of Western Australia and received educational sponsorship grants from MSD, Merck-Serono and from Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Dr Hart has also received personal fees from Shareholders in Western IVF outside the submitted work. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NA.

Comparability and Short-Term Stability of Techniques to Assess Extension of Thinking about One's Personal Future

1983 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 559-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Rakowski ◽  
Clifton E. Barber ◽  
Wayne C. Seelbach
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Life Event ◽  
Term Stability ◽  
The Future ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Over Time

Three techniques for assessing extension of one's personal future (line-marking, open-ended report, life-events) were compared in a sample of 74 respondents. Two points of data collection were employed to examine short-term stability. At both administrations, correlations among indices suggested that techniques were only moderately comparable. Short-term stabilities were variable; correlations ranged from .42 to .79. Across subgroups of the sample, the direct, open-ended report of extension showed the greatest stability, while life-event extension showed the least. Apparently, extension of thinking about the future should be assessed by more than one technique to investigate potential relationships with other variables or changes over time in perspective about the future.

Life Events and Schizophrenia in Nigerians

1988 ◽  
Vol 153 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oye Gureje ◽  
A. Adewunmi
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Life Event ◽  
Sociodemographic Variables ◽  
Male Control ◽  
Control Subjects ◽  
The Family ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Event Histories

Forty-two first-episode RDC schizophrenic patients were matched on sociodemographic variables with an equal number of control subjects. The life-event histories of both groups for 6 months before onset or interview were compared. Onset of illness was not preceded by an increase in life events. The only significant observation was that control subjects had experienced more events in the month previous to interview. These were reported mainly by male control subjects, involved the family, and were possibly related to the period when the control subjects were interviewed. The observations are discussed within the context of the Nigerian culture.

scholarly journals Factors associated with relapse of schizophrenia

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-63
Author(s):  
AKM Akramul Haque ◽  
AHM Kazi Mostofa Kamal ◽  
Zinat De Laila ◽  
Luna Laila ◽  
Helal Uddin Ahmed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Expressed Emotion ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients

Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric illness with high rate of relapse which is commonly associated with noncompliance of medicine, as well as stress and high expressed emotions. The objective of the study was to determine the factors of relapse among the schizophrenic patients attending in outpatient departments of three tertiary level psychiatric facilities in Bangladesh. This was a cross sectional study conducted from July, 2001 to June, 2002. Two hundred patients including both relapse and nonrelapse cases of schizophrenia and their key relatives were included by purposive sampling. The results showed no statistically significant difference in terms of relapse with age, sex, religion, residence, occupation and level of education (p>0.05), but statistically significant difference was found with marital status and economic status (p<0.01). The proportion of non-compliance was found to be 80% and 14%, of high expressed emotion was 17% and 2% and of the occurrence of stressful life events was 10% and 1% in relapse and non-relapse cases respectively which were statistically significant (p<0.001). The study indicated that stressful life events, high expressed emotion, and noncompliance with medication had a role in schizophrenic patients for its relapse.Bang J Psychiatry December 2015; 29(2): 59-63

scholarly journals Major Stressful Life Events and Risk of Developing Lung Cancer: A Case-Control Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 117955491983579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed H Jafri ◽  
Faisal Ali ◽  
Arash Mollaeian ◽  
Syed Mojiz Hasan ◽  
Rahat Hussain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Stressful Life Event ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Prior History ◽  
Life Event ◽  
Control Study

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality and is strongly linked with smoking. We sought to determine whether major stressful life events (e.g. divorce) are also a risk factor for developing lung cancers. Methods: We performed a matched case-control study. Cases (CA) were lung cancer patients diagnosed within the previous 12 months. Controls (CO) were patients without a prior history of malignancy. Data on major stressful life events were collected using the modified Holmes-Rahe stress scale. The primary endpoint was the odds of having a major stressful life event between CA and CO. A sample of 360 patients (CA = 120, CO = 240) was needed to achieve 80% power to detect an odds ratio (OR) of 2.00 versus the alternative of equal odds using χ2 = 0.05. Results: Between May 2015 and December 2016, we enrolled 301 patients (CA = 102, CO = 199), matched for median age (CA = 64.4 years, CO = 63.9 years), sex (CA-Male = 48%, CO-Male = 49.2%), and smoking status (ever smoker, CA = 84%, CO = 85%). There was no difference in lifetime stressful life event rate between CA and CO (95% vs 93.9%; P = .68). However, CA were significantly more likely to have had a stressful event within the preceding 5 years than CO (CA = 77.4% vs CO = 65.8%; P = .03, OR = 1.78). β-blocker use was significantly higher among CO (CA = 29.4%, CO = 49.7%; P = .0007, OR = 0.42), suggesting a protective effect. Conclusion: Patients with lung cancer are significantly more likely to have had a major stressful life event within the preceding 5 years. In addition, use of β-blockers may be protective against lung cancer.

The Relationship Between Stressful Life Events and Cognitive Function in HIV-Infected Men

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole D. Pukay-Martin ◽  
Sarah A. Cristiani ◽  
Radu Saveanu ◽  
Robert A. Bornstein
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
The Relationship
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document