The developmental and dynamic relationship between psychopathology and psychotic-like experiences trajectories in children and adolescents.

Background: The previous cross-sectional and prospective studies have reported that psychopathology was associated with the occurrence of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). However, few of these studies have examined this longitudinal association considering the different developmental trajectories of PLEs, as well as the growth or changes of psychopathology over time.

Methods: Four waves PLEs and psychopathology assessments from Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study were used. The latent class growth modeling (LCGM) and latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) was used to assess latent PLEs class (group) and time-varying psychopathology, respectively. Lastly, the multinomial logistic regression model was used to examined the dynamic and developmental relationship between intercept/slope in psychopathology and different PLEs trajectories.

Results: Three PLEs trajectory classes were confirmed: low decreasing PLEs (84.7 %), persistent PLEs (7.01 %) and high decreasing PLEs trajectories (8.29 %). We also found that the intercept of anxious/depressed problems and total problems scales and the slope of social problems were associated with the persistent PLEs trajectory compared with the low decreasing PLEs trajectories, indicating both the early onset and the growth of psychopathology over time are needed to be clinical attention.

Limitations: The CBCL as the sole outcome measure for psychopathology and a widely acknowledged definition for PLEs is lacking. We lacked the mechanisms underlying the current results.

Conclusion: These longitudinal and dynamic results suggest that future intervention studies aimed at preventing the transition from persistent PLEs to psychotic disorders can focus on both the early onset and the growth of psychopathology over time.