Comparing cognition in parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and their 7-year-old offspring

• Published in: Psychiatry research 2024-10, Vol.340, p.116112, Article 116112
• Main Authors: Greve, Aja Neergaard, Hemager, Nicoline, Mortensen, Erik Lykke, Gantriis, Ditte Lou, Burton, Birgitte Klee, Ellersgaard, Ditte, Plessen, Kerstin J., Thorup, Anne A.E., Jepsen, Jens Richardt Møllegaard, Nordentoft, Merete, Mors, Ole, Simonsen, Arndis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Bayes Theorem; Bipolar Disorder; Child; Child of Impaired Parents - psychology; Child of Impaired Parents - statistics & numerical data; Cognition - physiology; Familial high risk; Female; First-degree relatives; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Non-verbal abilities; Parents - psychology; Schizophrenia; Severe mental disorders; Verbal abilites
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2024.116112

•Verbal deficits are similar in offspring and parents with schizophrenia.•Verbal abilities are better in parents with bipolar disorder than in offspring.•Non-verbal deficits are smaller in offspring than parents with schizophrenia.•Non-verbal deficits are smaller in offspring than parents with bipolar disorder.•High-risk offspring may be particularly disadvantaged on verbal abilities. Individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) or bipolar disorder (BP) display cognitive impairments, while their first-degree relatives perform at an intermediate level between the patient groups and controls. However, the environmental impact of having an ill relative likely varies with the type of kinship and some studies suggest that offspring may be particularly disadvantaged. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between parent and child cognition in parents with SZ or BD and their 7-year-old offspring. A population-based cohort of 522 children (parental SZ, n = 202; parental BP, n = 120; controls, n = 200) and their parents underwent the same assessment battery covering a wide range of cognitive functions. We used Bayesian statistics to model performance. We found that performance on non-verbal tests was better in offspring than parents with SZ or BP, using the controls as reference. However, for verbal tests, there was little to no evidence for this pattern or even some evidence for the opposite in the BP group: relatively better performance in parents than offspring. The findings suggest that the offspring of parents with SZ or BP may be particularly disadvantaged in verbal abilities. Future studies will show whether this pattern persists throughout development.