Psychological and social difficulties in young non-help-seeking adolescents at risk for psychosis: insights from a large cohort study.

Background: This study used data from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), and explored the psychological and social challenges of 14-year-olds who report psychotic symptoms. Research on help-seeking youths indicates comorbid symptoms of depression, anxiety, and social deterioration, but less is known about non-help-seeking individuals who may not use healthcare services, possibly skewing comorbidity profiles. Also, findings suggest that adolescents manifesting psychotic symptoms refrain from pursuing help.

Anomalous self-experiences and neurocognitive functioning in adolescents at risk for psychosis: Still no significant associations found between these two vulnerability markers.

Background: Anomalous self-experiences (ASEs) and neurocognitive impairments are considered essential domains of vulnerability for developing psychotic disorders. However, little research exists of possible associations between ASEs and neurocognitive functions in individuals at-risk for psychosis. The interconnections between ASEs and neurocognitive impairments should therefore be clarified as much as possible, especially in young individuals at risk.

Cognitive functioning in a group of adolescents at risk for psychosis.

Cognitive deficits are a core feature of schizophrenia, and impairments are present in groups at-risk for psychosis. Most at-risk studies include young adults and not younger age-groups, such as adolescents. Participants are usually help-seeking individuals, even though risk factors may also be present in non-help seeking adolescents.

A systematic review of premorbid cognitive functioning and its timing of onset in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Cognitive impairments are core features of established schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). However, it remains unclear whether specific cognitive functions are differentially impaired pre-onset and at what age these impairments can be detected. The purpose of this review was to elucidate these issues through a systematic summary of results from longitudinal studies investigating impairment in specific cognitive domains as antecedents of SSD.

Perinatal complications and executive dysfunction in early-onset schizophrenia.

Background: The present study examined the association between perinatal obstetric complications and executive dysfunction in early-onset schizophrenia (EOS), compared to healthy controls. Higher incidences of obstetric complications and more severe executive dysfunctions characterize EOS. Research shows extensive brain maturation in newborns, suggesting them to be particularly vulnerable for perinatal insults.

Do clinical characteristics predict the cognitive course in early-onset schizophrenia-spectrum disorders?

Background: Being in a period with extensive brain maturation, adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (EOS) provide unique neurodevelopmental data that may contribute to a better understanding of schizophrenia at all ages. Cognitive dysfunction is a central feature of schizophrenia and is more pronounced in EOS than in later onset illness. However, there is limited research on both the long-term course of global cognition in EOS, and how cognition over time is influenced by clinical characteristics during the early illness period.

Gestational length affects neurocognition in early-onset schizophrenia.

Obstetric complications (OC) have been linked to an increased risk for schizophrenia in offspring, especially in early-onset schizophrenia (EOS). Extensive cognitive deficits occur in EOS, although no study has yet to investigate the relationship between OC and cognition in EOS. This study aims to examine the frequency of OC in EOS compared to controls, and also investigates the relationship between OC and neurocognitive dysfunction in the two groups.