Childhood Trauma May Increase Psychosis Risk

Repeated childhood trauma may increase the risk of psychosis as an adult, according to a recent study.

During this recent study, researchers analyzed 60 pairs of siblings--half of whom suffered from psychosis. The researchers specifically examined links between heavy marijuana use and increased psychosis risk. 

"Both childhood trauma and cannabis use were significantly associated with an increased risk of suffering functional psychosis", the researchers wrote in the journal. "A neurotic personality also contributed independently to this risk. These findings might help improve the prevention of psychosis and the development of specific treatment strategies in this specific population." 

Findings showed that those who used cannabis more than five times a week were six times more likely to experience psychosis; the same was true of those who had a neurotic personality disorder, researchers say, which involves obsessive thoughts or anxiety.

"This work has the value of being the first one in being carried out in a clinical sample of psychotic and non-psychotic siblings, and it brings to light the need of doctors to inquire into these precedents when evaluating their patients", said co-authors Manuel Gurpegui and Jorge Cervilla, professors of Psychiatry at the University of Granada in Spain.

The study is published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. 

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