Children of people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have a higher risk of developing psychopathology

A team of researchers, led by the Center for Biomedical Research Network (CIBER ), has discovered that the descendants of people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have a greater risk of developing psychopathology , compared to those minors whose parents do not have these diseases.

The research, which also involved the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona and the Gregorio Marañón Hospital of Madrid, analyzed variables such as the psychiatric diagnoses of parents and children, the family's socioeconomic status, the age of the parents at the birth of their child, and the presence of subclinical symptoms related to schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

"The study confirms this increased risk and helps us better understand what factors influence mental health problems in children of patients," said Josefina Castro Fornieles, study coordinator and researcher in the Mental Health Department of CIBER (CIBERSAM) at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, ​​IDIBAPS, and the University of Barcelona.

The CIBERSAM researcher at the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona and first author of the article, Elena de la Serna , explained that the patterns of symptoms vary depending on the parental diagnosis, and that children with parents with schizophrenia have a higher risk of attention deficit disorder, disruptive disorders and subclinical psychotic symptoms .

Meanwhile, children of patients with bipolar disorder have a higher prevalence of mood disorders, attention deficit disorder, and subclinical bipolar symptoms.

The article, published in the journal European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, also highlights factors that can mitigate this risk, such as better psychosocial functioning of parents or a higher socioeconomic status, which "underlines" the importance of family and social interventions .

This research followed 238 children between the ages of 6 and 17 for four years. They were evaluated at the beginning and end of this period, reinforcing the importance of long-term follow-up of children of patients with serious mental illness and raising the need to design preventive strategies for these high-risk populations.

"Although studies with larger samples are needed, this research contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of vulnerability to mental disorders in childhood and adolescence," the research team concluded.