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Parental psychological factors

How do parental psychological factors relate to schizophrenia?

Exposure to maternal psychological factors such as stress, depression, or psychosis during pregnancy may be linked to risk of schizophrenia in the offspring. The mechanisms by which these factors influence risk of schizophrenia is unclear, however genetic predisposition and/or inflammatory processes caused by stress during pregnancy may be involved.

What is the evidence for parental psychological factors?

Moderate to low quality evidence suggests medium-sized effects of increased risk of schizophrenia spectrum or non-affective psychoses following exposure to any parental psychopathology or self-reported maternal stress during pregnancy. Risk was highest with exposure to maternal psychosis. There was no association with death of a close relative or exposure to other catastrophic events (unspecified).

April 2022

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Last updated at: 3:00 pm, 25th April 2022
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Fact Sheet Technical Commentary
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