Publication Date
2014
Journal Title
Schizophr Res
Abstract
There is inconsistent evidence for increased stress exposure among individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. Yet similar to patients with a diagnosed psychotic illness, the preponderance of evidence suggests that CHR individuals tend to experience stressful life events (LE) and daily hassles (DH) as more subjectively stressful than healthy individuals. The present study utilizes data from the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study Phase 2 (NAPLS-2) to test the hypotheses that (1) CHR individuals manifest higher self-reported stress in response to both LE and DH when compared to healthy controls (HC), (2) group differences in self-reported stress increase with age, (3) baseline self-reported stress is associated with follow-up clinical status, and (4) there is a sensitization effect of LE on the response to DH. In contrast to some previous research, the present findings indicate that the CHR group (N = 314) reported exposure to more LE when compared to the HC group (N= 162). As predicted, CHR participants rated events as more stressful, and those who progressed to psychosis reported a greater frequency of LE and greater stress from events compared to those whose prodromal symptoms remitted. There was also some evidence of stress-sensitization; those who experienced more stress from LE rated current DH as more stressful. The results indicate that the "prodromal" phase is a period of heightened stress and stress sensitivity, and elevated cumulative lifetime exposure to stressful events may increase reactions to current stressors. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Volume Number
160
Issue Number
1-3
Pages
104-109
Document Type
Article
EPub Date
2014/12/03
Status
Faculty
Facility
School of Medicine
Primary Department
Psychiatry
Additional Departments
Molecular Medicine
PMID
DOI
10.1016/j.schres.2014.09.017