Visual memory and psychotic symptoms in youth

Vallis, Emily Howes; MacKenzie, Lynn E.; Zwicker, Alyson; Drobinin, Vladislav; Rempel, Sheri; Abidi, Sabina; Lovas, David; Bagnell, Alexa; Propper, Lukas; Omisade, Antonina; Fisher, Helen L.; Pavlova, Barbara; Uher, Rudolf

doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.12017538.v1

pcnp_a_1741342_sm1845.docx (21.06 kB)

Visual memory and psychotic symptoms in youth

journal contribution

posted on 2020-03-23, 04:56 authored by Emily Howes Vallis, Lynn E. MacKenzie, Alyson Zwicker, Vladislav Drobinin, Sheri Rempel, Sabina Abidi, David Lovas, Alexa Bagnell, Lukas Propper, Antonina Omisade, Helen L. Fisher, Barbara Pavlova, Rudolf Uher

Psychotic symptoms are common during childhood and adolescence and may indicate transdiagnostic risk of future psychiatric disorders. Lower visual memory ability has been suggested as a potential indicator of future risk of mental illness. The relationship between visual memory and clinician-confirmed definite psychotic symptoms in youth has not yet been explored.

We examined visual memory and psychotic symptoms among 205 participants aged 7–27 years in a cohort enriched for parental mood and psychotic disorders. We assessed visual memory using the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) and psychotic symptoms using validated semi-structured interview measures. We tested the relationship between visual memory and psychotic symptoms using mixed-effects logistic regression.

After accounting for age, sex, and family clustering, we found that psychotic symptoms were significantly associated with lower visual memory (OR = 1.80, 95% CI 1.06–3.06, p = 0.030). This result was unchanged after accounting for general cognitive ability.

Lower visual memory performance is associated with psychotic symptoms among youth, regardless of general cognitive ability. This finding may inform future targeted early interventions.