Publications by authors named "Simona A Stilo"
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigates the link between urban living conditions (urbanicity) and schizotypy, a potential precursor to psychosis, suggesting this relationship varies significantly between North-western and Southern Europe.
- - Researchers assessed 1080 individuals across 14 sites in both regions, measuring urbanicity through local population density and controlling for factors like age and childhood experiences.
- - Findings reveal that higher population density is strongly associated with increased schizotypy in North-western Europe, while the effect is notably weaker in Southern Europe, indicating that urbanization’s impact on mental health is not uniform across different contexts.
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigates the variation of subclinical psychosis (SP) measures, such as schizotypy and psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), across different geographic regions and how this correlates with the incidence of first-episode psychosis (FEP) in those areas.
- - Through analysis of data from 1497 controls in 16 sites across 6 countries, researchers found that schizotypy showed significant variation related to site characteristics, while PLEs exhibited less variation; local incidences of FEP were associated with reduced unexplained variance in schizotypy.
- - Findings highlight that younger, migrant, unmarried, unemployed, and less educated individuals, along with factors like cannabis use and childhood adversity, are linked to SP
Background: Childhood adversity and cannabis use are considered independent risk factors for psychosis, but whether different patterns of cannabis use may be acting as mediator between adversity and psychotic disorders has not yet been explored. The aim of this study is to examine whether cannabis use mediates the relationship between childhood adversity and psychosis.
Methods: Data were utilised on 881 first-episode psychosis patients and 1231 controls from the European network of national schizophrenia networks studying Gene-Environment Interactions (EU-GEI) study.
Article Synopsis
- Studies suggest that DNA-methylation (DNAm) may be influenced by childhood adversity (CA) and could play a role in the development of psychotic disorders, although the specific mediating effects remain unexplored.
- Researchers conducted an epigenome-wide association study comparing first-episode psychosis patients (n=366) to healthy controls (n=517) using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire to create adversity scores, but found that no specific CpG sites significantly mediated the relationship between CA and psychosis after statistical corrections.
- While several genes showed differential methylation related to CA, and previous studies linked some of these genes to psychosis, the analysis did not identify conclusive biological pathways, hinting at potential factors such as mitochondrial
Article Synopsis
- * Researchers found that individuals from migrant backgrounds, particularly those from non-Western countries, experienced higher rates of CM and that this exposure was linked to greater incidence of FEP.
- * The findings suggest that although migrant status weakens the direct link between CM and FEP, these groups still face a significant risk and should be targeted in policies aimed at reducing child maltreatment.
Article Synopsis
- A study examined 802 first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients and identified four distinct clusters based on their premorbid social and academic functioning and current IQ levels.* -
- These clusters varied in their genetic risk scores for psychotic disorders and showed differing patterns of cannabis use, with one cluster having a notable connection to high-potency cannabis.* -
- Most FEP patients did not show marked premorbid deterioration; however, the deteriorating group indicated a relationship between their decline in functioning and frequent use of high-potency cannabis.*
Background: Psychosis rates are higher among some migrant groups. We hypothesized that psychosis in migrants is associated with cumulative social disadvantage during different phases of migration.
Methods: We used data from the EUropean Network of National Schizophrenia Networks studying Gene-Environment Interactions (EU-GEI) case-control study.
Background: Risk prediction algorithms have long been used in health research and practice (e.g. prediction of cardiovascular disease and diabetes).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of Review: We review recent developments on risk factors in schizophrenia.
Recent Findings: The way we think about schizophrenia today is profoundly different from the way this illness was seen in the twentieth century. We now know that the etiology of schizophrenia is multifactorial and reflects an interaction between genetic vulnerability and environmental contributors.
Background: Jumping to conclusions (JTC), which is the proneness to require less information before forming beliefs or making a decision, has been related to formation and maintenance of delusions. Using data from the National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centre Genetics and Psychosis (GAP) case-control study of first-episode psychosis (FEP), we set out to test whether the presence of JTC would predict poor clinical outcome at 4 years.
Methods: One-hundred and twenty-three FEP patients were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and the probabilistic reasoning 'Beads' Task at the time of recruitment.
Little is known about the impact of different forms of childhood adversity on outcomes in first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients beyond the first year of treatment. We investigated associations between different types of childhood adversity and outcomes of FEP patients over the 5 years following their first contact with mental health services for psychosis. 237 FEP cases aged 18-65 years were followed on average for 5 years after first presentation to psychiatric services in South London, UK.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere has been much recent debate concerning the relative clinical utility of symptom dimensions versus conventional diagnostic categories in patients with psychosis. We investigated whether symptom dimensions rated at presentation for first-episode psychosis (FEP) better predicted time to first remission than categorical diagnosis over a four-year follow-up. The sample comprised 193 FEP patients aged 18-65years who presented to psychiatric services in South London, UK, between 2006 and 2010.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Several studies have suggested that lifetime cannabis consumption and childhood abuse synergistically contribute to the risk for psychotic disorders. This study aimed to extend existing findings regarding an additive interaction between childhood abuse and lifetime cannabis use by investigating the moderating role of type and frequency of cannabis use.
Methods: Up to 231 individuals presenting for the first time to mental health services with psychotic disorders and 214 unaffected population controls from South London, United Kingdom, were recruited as part of the Genetics and Psychosis study.
Background: The risk of individuals having adverse effects from drug use (eg, alcohol) generally depends on the frequency of use and potency of the drug used. We aimed to investigate how frequent use of skunk-like (high-potency) cannabis in south London affected the association between cannabis and psychotic disorders.
Methods: We applied adjusted logistic regression models to data from patients aged 18-65 years presenting to South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust with first-episode psychosis and population controls recruited from the same area of south London (UK) to estimate the effect of the frequency of use, and type of cannabis used on the risk of psychotic disorders.
Background: Failure to account for the etiological diversity that typically occurs in psychiatric cohorts may increase the potential for confounding as a proportion of genetic variance will be specific to exposures that have varying distributions in cases. This study investigated whether minimizing the potential for such confounding strengthened the evidence for a genetic candidate currently unsupported at the genome-wide level.
Methods: Two hundred and ninety-one first-episode psychosis cases from South London, UK and 218 unaffected controls were evaluated for a functional polymorphism at the rs1360780 locus in FKBP5.
Recent years have seen considerable progress in epidemiological and molecular genetic research into environmental and genetic factors in schizophrenia, but methodological uncertainties remain with regard to validating environmental exposures, and the population risk conferred by individual molecular genetic variants is small. There are now also a limited number of studies that have investigated molecular genetic candidate gene-environment interactions (G × E), however, so far, thorough replication of findings is rare and G × E research still faces several conceptual and methodological challenges. In this article, we aim to review these recent developments and illustrate how integrated, large-scale investigations may overcome contemporary challenges in G × E research, drawing on the example of a large, international, multi-center study into the identification and translational application of G × E in schizophrenia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Cannabis use is associated with an earlier age of onset of psychosis (AOP). However, the reasons for this remain debated.
Methods: We applied a Cox proportional hazards model to 410 first-episode psychosis patients to investigate the association between gender, patterns of cannabis use, and AOP.
Article Synopsis
- The study examines the link between social disadvantage and the onset of psychosis by analyzing the backgrounds of 278 patients experiencing their first episode compared to 226 healthy controls.
- It finds that significant social adversities in childhood, such as long-term parental separation or loss, increase the odds of developing psychosis by 2 to 3 times, while adult social disadvantages also show a strong correlation.
- The research highlights that experiencing social disadvantage in both childhood and adulthood contributes to a higher risk of psychosis, suggesting the importance of early social interventions.
Background: Cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of psychosis. One study has suggested that genetic variation in the AKT1 gene might influence this effect.
Methods: In a case-control study of 489 first-episode psychosis patients and 278 control subjects, we investigated the interaction between variation at the AKT1 rs2494732 single nucleotide polymorphism and cannabis use in increasing the risk of psychosis.
The epidemiology of schizophrenia: replacing dogma with knowledge.
Dialogues Clin Neurosci
November 2010
Major advances have been made in our understanding of the epidemiology of schizophrenia. We now know that the disorder is more common and severe in young men, and that the incidence varies geographically and temporally. Risk factors have been elucidated; biological risks include a family history of the disorder, advanced paternal age, obstetric complications, and abuse of drugs such as stimulants and cannabis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: People who use cannabis have an increased risk of psychosis, an effect attributed to the active ingredient Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta 9-THC). There has recently been concern over an increase in the concentration of Delta 9-THC in the cannabis available in many countries.
Aims: To investigate whether people with a first episode of psychosis were particularly likely to use high-potency cannabis.