Neurocognitive, behavioural and neurodevelopmental correlates of schizotypy clusters in adolescents from the general population.

INTRODUCTION: Studies on the neurocognitive correlates of schizotypy dimensions have found inconsistent results. This might stem from the fact that correlational methods, in contrast to cluster analysis, do not account for the possibility that a subject presents high scores on more than one dimension simultaneously. We aimed to establish clusters of normal adolescents based on schizotypy dimensions and compare them on neurocognitive, behavioural, and neurodevelopmental markers. METHODS: Two hundred seventy normal adolescents from the general population (mean age 13.4, SD=0.72) attending obligatory education were evaluated. RESULTS: A K-means iterative cluster analysis was performed with the Perceptual Aberration, Revised Social Anhedonia and Physical Anhedonia Scales. A forced four-cluster model yielded the following clusters: 'negative schizotypy', 'high or mixed schizotypy', 'positive schizotypy', and 'normal scorers'. Comparisons with ANOVAs showed that 'high schizotypes' performed poorly on neurocognition (Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and Verbal Fluency (FAS)) and obtained the highest teacher ratings (TRF) of behavioural problems. 'Negative schizotypes' had the worst WCST results and more dermatoglyphic abnormalities. Both clusters had more neurological soft signs than 'normal scorers' and 'positive schizotypes'. CONCLUSIONS: Our results with community adolescents found the same cluster structure than the previous cluster analytic studies conducted in adult college subjects. Furthermore, we showed differences among them on neurocognitive and malneurodevelopment markers consistent with the adult literature on schizotypy.

Estudio de la sintomatología ansiosa y depresiva de una muestra de preescolares inhibidos / Analysis of anxious and depressive symptoms of a sample of inhibited preschoolers

Aunque la inhibición conductual no es condición necesaria ni suficiente para el desarrollo de un trastorno de ansiedad, la literatura indica que los niños inhibidos son más propensos a desarrollar este tipo de trastornos en comparación con los desinhibidos. Algunos estudios han sugerido una conexión (probablemente mediada por la ansiedad) entre la inhibición conductual y la sintomatología depresiva. De acuerdo con esta línea de investigación, el objetivo del presente trabajo es examinar la relación existente entre la inhibición conductual y la sintomatología depresiva, partiendo de la hipótesis de que los preescolares con mayores puntuaciones en inhibición conductual exhibirán mayor número de síntomas de ansiedad y depresión que aquéllos con puntuaciones menores. Tras evaluar una muestra de niños (n~697) de 3 a 6 años, los resultados indican que los niños inhibidos muestran mayores niveles de ansiedad y depresión que los controles. Este hallazgo apoya a la hipótesis de que el rasgo temperamental conocido como inhibición conductual aumenta el riesgo de psicopatología ansioso-depresiva (AU)

Despite behavioural inhibition is neither necessary nor sufficient for the development of anxiety disorders, there are some indications in the literature that behaviourally inhibited children are more likely to develop anxiety disorders than uninhibited ones. Some studies suggest that there is a connection (probably carried by anxiety) between behavioral inhibition and depression symptoms. According to this line of research, the aim 01 the present work is to examine the relationship between behavioral inhibition and internalizing psychopathology, hypothesising that preschoolers with highest scores on behavioral inhibition will exhibit more anxiety and depression symptoms than those with lowest scores. After the assessment of a sample of children (N=697) aged 3 to 6, results indicate that most inhibited children have higher levels of anxiety and depression than controls. This finding add support to the hypothesis that the temperamental feature called 'behavioural inhibition' leads to anxious and depressive psychopathology (AU)