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. 2017 Nov;52(11):1363-1374.
doi: 10.1007/s00127-017-1430-9. Epub 2017 Aug 31.

The interplay of psychosis and victimisation across the life course: a prospective study in the general population

Steven Honings  1 , Marjan Drukker  1 , Margreet Ten Have  2 , Ron de Graaf  2 , Saskia van Dorsselaer  2 , Jim van Os  3   4   5
Affiliations

The interplay of psychosis and victimisation across the life course: a prospective study in the general population

Steven Honings et al. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2017 Nov.

Abstract

Purpose: Psychosis has been associated with adult victimisation. However, it remains unclear whether psychosis predicts incident adult victimisation, or whether adult victimisation predicts incident psychosis. Furthermore, a moderating effect of childhood victimisation on the association between psychosis and adult victimisation has not been investigated.

Methods: The longitudinal association between baseline psychotic experiences and six-year incidence of adult victimisation was assessed in a prospective general population cohort of 6646 adults using logistic regression analysis. The association between baseline adult victimisation and six-year incidence of psychotic experiences was examined as well. Furthermore, the moderating effect of childhood victimisation on these bidirectional associations was analysed.

Results: Psychotic experiences and childhood victimisation were both associated with an increased risk of incident adult victimisation. However, this was through competing pathways, as suggested by a negative interaction between psychotic experiences and childhood victimisation. Baseline adult victimisation and childhood victimisation both independently increased the risk of incident psychotic experiences, but there was no interaction between adult victimisation and childhood victimisation.

Conclusions: Psychosis and victimisation are interconnected throughout the life course. Childhood victimisation is connected to psychosis through two pathways: one direct and one indirect through adult victimisation. In individuals without childhood victimisation, psychosis and adult victimisation bidirectionally impact on each other.

Keywords: Childhood trauma; Psychosis; Psychotic experience; Victimisation; Violence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethical standards

NEMESIS-2 was approved by the Medical Ethics Review Committee for Institutions on Mental Health Care (METIGG). Participants provided written informed consent to participate in the interview, after full written and verbal information about the study was given before and at the start of the baseline assessment.

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Hypotheses relating to the bidirectional association between psychotic experiences and victimisation
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Results of testing the hypotheses relating to the bidirectional association between psychotic experiences and victimisation
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The complex interplay of psychosis and victimisation across the life course. // Points towards parallelism, i.e. childhood victimisation and psychotic experiences are competing risk factors for adult victimisation
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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