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. 2013 Jun;44(3):452-9.
doi: 10.1007/s10578-012-0339-5.

Classes of psychotic experiences in Kenyan children and adolescents

Daniel Mamah  1 , Akinkunle Owoso, Anne W Mbwayo, Victoria N Mutiso, Susan K Muriungi, Lincoln I Khasakhala, Deanna M Barch, David M Ndetei
Affiliations

Classes of psychotic experiences in Kenyan children and adolescents

Daniel Mamah et al. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2013 Jun.

Abstract

Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) have been observed worldwide in both adults and children outside the context of a clinical disorder. In the current study, we investigate the prevalence and patterns of PLEs among children and adolescents in Kenya. Among 1,971 students from primary and secondary schools around Nairobi (aged 8-19), 22.1 % reported a lifetime history of a psychotic experience, and 16.3 % reported this unrelated to sleep or drugs. Psychotic experiences were more common in males compared to females. LCA resulted in a three-class model comprised of a normative class (83.3 %), a predominately hallucinatory class (Type 1 psychosis: 9.6 %), and a pan-psychotic class (Type 2 psychosis: 7.2 %). These results indicate that PLEs are prevalent in children and adolescents, and the distributions of symptom clusters are similar to that found in adulthood. The relationship of specific PLEs to the future development of psychotic disorder, functional impairment or distress will require further study.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest The authors do not have any conflicts of interest and declare no financial interest from this study.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Gender differences in PLE prevalence. The graph shows the percentage of students that reported any PLE (1st bars), and specific PLEs, for each gender. Comparisons were done using Chi-square analysis. *p < 0.10; **p < 0.05. Gray females; Black males
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Classes of psychotic experiences in Kenyan children and adolescents. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to classify students based on their reports on the presence of absence of PLEs. Gender was included as a covariate in the analysis. Only students who stated their gender were used in the LCA (N = 1,903). The graph shows the three classes derived from LCA (i.e. “normative”, “Type 1 psychosis” and “Type 2 psychosis”), and the probability of having specific PLEs in each class
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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