Psychotic-like experiences in children born very preterm: evidence from clinical and population-based cohorts
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Background and aim
Very preterm birth (VPT; ≤32 weeks’ gestation) is associated with an increased risk of later psychiatric disorders, including psychosis. Although psychosis typically emerges in adulthood, subclinical early signs along the psychosis continuum, such as psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), can be observed much earlier. We therefore aimed to study PLEs in childhood in VPT individuals recruited from a clinical cohort compared with full-term (FT) controls. We subsequently investigated whether findings could be replicated in an independent population-based cohort.
Methods
Primary analyses were conducted in the Brain, Immunity and Psychopathology (BIPP) study, including 197 children born VPT recruited through Neonatal Intensive Care Units and 72 FT controls assessed at a mean age of 10.50±1.77 years. Between-group differences in PLEs were then examined in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, including 149 children born VPT and 9519 FT controls assessed at a mean age of 9.94 ± 0.63 years. PLEs were assessed using the Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief Child Version (PQ-BC), yielding frequency and distress-related scores for both the total scale and three specific domains (unusual thought content, perceptual abnormalities, disorganised speech). Regression models tested associations between birth status (VPT and control) and PQ-BC scores adjusting for age, sex, and socio-economic status, with secondary models additionally adjusting for cognitive ability and broader psychopathology. Pooled analyses examined cohort effects (BIPP and ABCD) and cohort-by-group status (VPT and control) interactions.
Results
In BIPP, VPT birth was associated with higher PQ-BC total (β=1.61, p=0.004) and distress scores (β=0.78, p=0.039), with the strongest and most consistent associations observed for perceptual abnormalities across total score (sum of endorsed items), distressing items, and distress severity scores (all p≤0.01). These associations were attenuated but largely persisted after adjustment for cognitive ability and broader psychopathology, particularly for perceptual abnormalities. In ABCD, VPT birth was not significantly associated with global or domain-specific PQ-BC outcomes.
Discussion
VPT birth is associated with increased vulnerability to PLEs in childhood, particularly in the domain of perceptual abnormalities. The lack of clear replication in the population-based ABCD cohort may reflect differences in the composition of its VPT subgroup, which may not fully represent VPT individuals typically seen in clinical cohorts.
