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Adult life events

What are stressful adult life events in schizophrenia?

Life events that occur during adulthood are defined as particularly significant experiences that result in substantial changes to personal circumstances. These changes may be positive or they may be negative changes and can occur across all aspects of life, including health, education, employment, relationships, bereavement, housing, legal, and financial issues.

What is the evidence for adult life events as risk factors for schizophrenia?

Moderate quality evidence finds a medium-sized increase in recent adverse life events in people with psychosis compared to people without psychosis, measured between 3 months and 3.6 years prior. There was a small association between increased rates of neighbourhood crime and increased rates of psychosis.

Moderate to low quality evidence suggests a small increase in prevalence, and a medium to large increase in incidence of subclinical psychotic symptoms in people reporting prior exposure to stress and trauma. There was a medium-sized increase in perceived stress, but not adverse events, in people at ultra high-risk for psychosis; those with attenuated psychotic symptoms or brief and limited intermittent psychotic symptoms, genetic risk, and functional deterioration.

April 2022

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Last updated at: 6:19 pm, 6th April 2022
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Fact Sheet Technical Commentary
Tags:  Stressful life events

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