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. 2018 Jan 9:8:2314.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02314. eCollection 2017.

Trajectories of Early Childhood Developmental Skills and Early Adolescent Psychotic Experiences: Findings from the ALSPAC UK Birth Cohort

Mohajer A Hameed  1 , Raghu Lingam  2 , Stanley Zammit  3   4 , Giovanni Salvi  5 , Sarah Sullivan  3   6 , Andrew J Lewis  7
Affiliations

Trajectories of Early Childhood Developmental Skills and Early Adolescent Psychotic Experiences: Findings from the ALSPAC UK Birth Cohort

Mohajer A Hameed et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to use prospective data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) to examine association between trajectories of early childhood developmental skills and psychotic experiences (PEs) in early adolescence. Method: This study examined data from n = 6790 children from the ALSPAC cohort who participated in a semi-structured interview to assess PEs at age 12. Child development was measured using parental report at 6, 18, 30, and 42 months of age using a questionnaire of items adapted from the Denver Developmental Screening Test - II. Latent class growth analysis was used to generate trajectories over time for measures of fine and gross motor development, social, and communication skills. Logistic regression was used to investigate associations between developmental trajectories in each of these early developmental domains and PEs at age 12. Results: The results provided evidence that decline rather than enduringly poor social (adjusted OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.10-1.92, p = 0.044) and communication skills (adjusted OR 1.12, 95% CI = 1.03-1.22, p = 0.010) is predictive of suspected or definite PEs in early adolescence, than those with stable and/or improving skills. Motor skills did not display the same pattern of association; although gender specific effects provided evidence that only declining pattern of fine motor skills was associated with suspected and definite PEs in males compared to females (interaction OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.09-1.97, p = 0.012). Conclusion: Findings suggest that decline rather than persistent impairment in social and communication skills were most predictive of PEs in early adolescence. Findings are discussed in terms of study's strengths, limitations, and clinical implications.

Keywords: ALSPAC birth cohort; adolescence; psychotic experiences; trajectories of early childhood development.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
(A) Trajectories of fine motor skills over time. (B) Trajectories of gross motor skills over time. (C) Trajectories of social skills over time.
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