Psychopathology and social functioning of 42 subjects from a Danish ultra high-risk cohort

Cognitive disturbances basic symptoms in help-seeking patients with borderline personality disorder: Characteristics and association with schizotypy

AIM

Although the presence of psychotic symptoms has been widely recognized in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), no study previously investigated cognitive Basic Symptoms (BS) and their clinical implications in patients with BPD.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study specifically examined the prevalence of COGDIS (cognitive disturbances) BS criteria in 93 help-seeking outpatients with BPD by using the Schizophrenia Proneness Instrument-Adult Version (SPI-A). We then explored associations of COGDIS with personality traits, functioning and core psychopathological features of BPD.

RESULTS

The prevalence rates of COGDIS criterion were 62.4%. BPD patients meeting COGDIS criteria reported higher levels of schizotypal personality traits, dissociative experiences and work/social functional impairment compared to individuals without COGDIS criteria. Furthermore, the number of cognitive BSs showed a positive correlation with severity levels of schizotypy.

CONCLUSIONS

Cognitive BS are common in BPD. Cognitive disturbances are associated with schizotypal personality traits and specific clinical features. The presence of cognitive BSs may identify a more severe subgroup of patients with BPD, potentially vulnerable to psychotic symptoms and reliably identifiable through assessment of schizotypal traits.

Prevalence and Functional Consequences of Social Anxiety in Individuals at Clinical High-Risk for Psychosis: Perspective From a Community Sample Comparison

Background

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) commonly occurs among individuals at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis. Extant research has yet to examine the prevalence and clinical/functional correlates of SAD in this population compared to a community control (CC) sample. This comparison may improve the generalizability that traditional nonpsychiatric control samples cannot provide. Additionally, it remains unknown how SAD contributes to symptom severity and social impairments in individuals at CHR for psychosis.

Methods

Both CHR and CC groups were recruited from general community sources; CC participants were not excluded in this analysis on the basis of any psychopathology except psychosis. A total of 245 adolescents and young adults (CHR = 81; CC = 164) were administered the Social Phobia Scale, the Structured Interview for Psychosis-risk Syndromes, Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Research Version, and the Social Functioning Scale.

Results

The CHR group was at increased risk for having SAD relative to CC (42% CHR; 13% CC; RR = 3.28) and, to a lesser degree, a non-SAD anxiety disorder (41% CHR; 29% CC; RR = 1.42). Greater social anxiety was related to higher levels of negative (r = 0.29) but not positive (r = 0.05) symptoms within the CHR group. Furthermore, elevated social anxiety was found to be linked with poor social functioning in the CHR group (r = -0.31).

Conclusions

These findings demonstrate the specificity of SAD over and above other anxiety disorders in individuals at CHR for psychosis and the critical target of SAD to treat subclinical psychotic symptoms and social functioning.

Generalized neurocognitive impairment in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis: The possible key role of slowed processing speed

OBJECTIVE

Widespread neurocognitive impairment is well-established in individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for developing psychoses, but it is unknown whether slowed processing speed may underlie impairment in other neurocognitive domains, as found in schizophrenia. The study delineated domain functioning in a UHR sample and examined if neurocognitive slowing might account for deficits across domains.

METHODS

The cross-sectional study included 50 UHR individuals with no (n = 38) or minimal antipsychotic exposure (n = 12; mean lifetime dose of haloperidol equivalent = 17.56 mg; SD = 13.04) and 50 matched healthy controls. Primary analyses compared group performance across neurocognitive domains before and after covarying for processing speed. To examine the specificity of processing speed effects, post hoc analyses examined the impact of the other neurocognitive domains and intelligence as covariates.

RESULTS

UHR individuals exhibited significant impairment across all neurocognitive domains (all ps ≤ .010), with medium to large effect sizes (Cohen's ds = -0.53 to -1.12). Only processing speed used as covariate eliminated significant between-group differences in all other domains, reducing unadjusted Cohen's d values with 68% on average, whereas the other domains used as covariates averagely reduced unadjusted Cohen's d values with 20% to 48%. When covarying each of the other domains after their shared variance with speed of processing was removed, all significant between-group domain differences remained (all ps ≤ .024).

CONCLUSION

Slowed processing speed may underlie generalized neurocognitive impairment in UHR individuals and represent a potential intervention target.

N400 event-related brain potential as an index of real-world and neurocognitive function in patients at clinical high risk for schizophrenia

AIM

The N400 event-related potential is a neurophysiological index of cognitive processing of real-world knowledge. In healthy populations, N400 amplitude is smaller in response to stimuli that are more related to preceding context. This 'N400 semantic priming effect' is thought to reflect activation of contextually related information in semantic memory (SM). N400 semantic priming deficits have been found in schizophrenia, and in patients at clinical high risk (CHR) for this disorder. Because this abnormality in processing relationships between meaningful stimuli could affect ability to navigate everyday situations, we hypothesized it would be associated with real-world functional impairment in CHR patients. Second, we hypothesized it would correlate with global neurocognitive impairment in this group.

METHODS

We measured N400 semantic priming in 35 CHR patients who viewed prime words each followed by a related or unrelated target word, at stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) of 300 or 750 ms. We measured academic/occupational and social function with the global function (GF): Role and Social scales, and cognitive function with the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB).

RESULTS

Decreased N400 semantic priming at the 300-ms SOA correlated with lower GF:Role scores. Decreased N400 semantic priming at the 750-ms SOA correlated with lower MCCB composite scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Deficits in activating contextually related concepts in SM over short time intervals may contribute to functional impairment in CHR patients. Furthermore, N400 priming deficits over longer intervals may be a biomarker of global cognitive dysfunction in this population. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether these deficits are associated with schizophrenia risk within this population.

Familiarity for Serious Mental Illness in Help-Seeking Adolescents at Clinical High Risk of Psychosis

Aim: Ultrahigh-risk (UHR) individuals have an increased vulnerability to psychosis because of accumulating environmental and/or genetic risk factors. Although original research examined established risk factors for psychosis in the UHR state, these findings are scarce and often contradictory. The aims of this study were (a) to investigate the prevalence of severe mental illness (SMI) in family members of distinct subgroups of adolescents identified through the UHR criteria [i.e., non-UHR vs. UHR vs. first-episode psychosis (FEP)] and (b) to examine any relevant associations of family vulnerability and genetic risk and functioning deterioration (GRFD) syndrome with clinical and psychopathological characteristics in the UHR group. Methods: Adolescents (n = 147) completed an ad hoc sociodemographic/clinical schedule and the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States to investigate the clinical status. Results: More than 60% UHR patients had a family history of SMI, and approximately a third of them had at least a first-degree relative with psychosis or other SMI. A GRFD syndrome was detected in ~35% of UHR adolescents. GRFD adolescents showed baseline high levels of positive symptoms (especially non-bizarre ideas) and emotional disturbances (specifically, observed inappropriate affect). Conclusions: Our results confirm the importance of genetic and/or within-family risk factors in UHR adolescents, suggesting the crucial need of their early detection, also within the network of general practitioners, general hospitals, and the other community agencies (e.g., social services and school).

White matter maturation during 12 months in individuals at ultra-high-risk for psychosis

OBJECTIVE

The neurodevelopmental hypothesis of psychosis suggests that disrupted white matter (WM) maturation underlies disease onset. In this longitudinal study, we investigated WM connectivity and compared WM changes between individuals at ultra-high-risk for psychosis (UHR) and healthy controls (HCs).

METHOD

Thirty UHR individuals and 23 HCs underwent MR diffusion tensor imaging before and after 12 months of non-manualized standard care. Positive and negative symptoms and level of functioning were assessed. Tract-based spatial statistics were employed.

RESULTS

During 12 months, none of the UHR individuals transitioned to psychosis. Both UHR individuals and HCs increased significantly in fractional anisotropy (FA). UHR individuals showed significant FA increases predominantly in the left superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) (P = 0.01), and HCs showed significant FA increases in the left uncinate fasciculus (P = 0.03). Within UHR individuals, a significant positive correlation between FA change and age was observed predominantly in the left SLF (P = 0.02). Within HCs, no significant correlation between FA change and age was observed. No significant correlations between baseline FA and clinical outcomes were observed; however, FA changes were significantly positively correlated to changes in negative symptoms (P = 0.04).

CONCLUSION

As normal brain maturation occurs in a posterior to frontal direction, our findings could suggest disturbed WM maturation in UHR individuals.

An Overview of Recent Findings on Social Anxiety Disorder in Adolescents and Young Adults at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis

Background: Some studies have shown that anxiety is particularly frequent in the Clinical High Risk (CHR) for psychosis population. Notably, social anxiety disorder is identified as one of the most common anxiety disorders in CHR adolescents and young adults. Despite this, the frequency and the clinical significance of social anxiety in this population have been underestimated. Methods: A selective review of literature published between 2011 and 2017 on social anxiety disorder in CHR adolescents and young adults. Results: Five studies are included. In particular, three studies demonstrated that CHR adolescents and young adults have higher levels of anxiety compared to controls. Furthermore, anxiety, including social anxiety, is related to the severity of psychotic symptoms. The other studies included show inconsistent results regarding the possible relationship between social anxiety and social functioning. Conclusions: To date, the eidence concerning the comorbidity of social anxiety disorder and CHR in adolescents and young adults is not sufficient to provide clear guidelines for clinical practice. Future longitudinal studies on larger samples of the CHR adolescents and young adults are required to examine the relationship between social anxiety disorder and the presence of attenuated psychotic symptomatology.