Effects of parental characteristics on the risk of psychopathology in offspring: a 4-year follow-up study

Offspring of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (SZoff) or bipolar disorder (BDoff) have double the risk of developing a psychiatric disorder. Here we report the effects of some parental characteristics on the offspring risk of psychopathology at 4-year follow-up. At baseline, 90 BDoff, 41 SZoff and 107 Community Control offspring (CCoff) aged 6 to 17 were included. At 4-year follow-up, 71% of the sample was assessed. Parents' and offspring's psychiatric diagnoses as well as socio-economic status (SES) and global functioning were assessed in addition to parents' ages at childbirth and offspring subclinical psychotic/bipolar symptoms. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis were used to assess between-group differences in the cumulative incidence of psychiatric disorders and subclinical psychotic/bipolar symptoms and the association of some offspring and parents' variables with risk of psychopathology and subclinical psychotic/bipolar symptoms. SZoff and BDoff had a higher risk of psychopathology than CCoff at 4-year follow-up. SZoff showed a higher risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), disruptive disorders and subclinical psychotic symptoms, whereas BDoff displayed a heightened risk for mood disorders, ADHD and subclinical bipolar symptoms when compared to CCoff. Higher parental psychosocial functioning and SES were associated with a lower prevalence of psychopathology. Both SZoff and BDoff samples have a higher risk for psychopathology but the pattern of this psychopathology seems to be group specific. Longer follow-up studies and larger sample sizes are needed to assess the capacity of psychopathological disorder and subclinical psychotic or bipolar symptoms to predict progression to fully-fledged disorders.