Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-cjp7w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-27T05:04:50.189Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Schizophrenic subtype, seasonality of birth and social class: A preliminary analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

Bernard J. Gallagher III ,
Brian J. Jones ,
Joseph A. McFalls Jr.  and
Anthony M. Pisa
Bernard J. Gallagher III*
Affiliation:
Villanova University, Department of Sociology, Villanova, PA19085, USA
Brian J. Jones
Affiliation:
Villanova University, Department of Sociology, Villanova, PA19085, USA
Joseph A. McFalls Jr.
Affiliation:
Villanova University, Department of Sociology, Villanova, PA19085, USA
Anthony M. Pisa
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychologist, Private Practice, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 610 519 4785; fax: +1 610 519 6319. E-mail address: bernard.gallagher@villanova.edu (B.J. Gallagher).
Get access

Abstract

Objective

The neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia includes the etiological impact of fetal brain stressors possibly connected with birth seasonality. Specification of social class of origin (SES) as a related risk factor remains unexamined as does type of schizophrenia as an outcome variable. The objective of this study was to test for an interconnection between SES, type of schizophrenia and seasonality of birth.

Methods

Patients (N = 436) from a United States psychiatric hospital were separated into deficit/nondeficit presentation and bifurcated into poor/nonpoor SES. Birth seasonality was assessed by months hypothetically connected with winter-related trimesters of gestation.

Results

Results showed that there is a significant difference (p = 0.0411) in the monthly birth patterns of poor vs. nonpoor patients and that the difference connects with the likelihood of deficit vs. nondeficit schizophrenia. Specifically, an elevated proportion of patients with deficit schizophrenia were born to impoverished women who likely conceived in January. Findings were confirmed by multiple levels of statistical assessment including log linear analysis.

Conclusion

The resultant model suggests the environmental location (lower SES) and timing (winter conception) of adult schizophrenia with poor outcome (deficit).

Keywords

DeficitNondeficitSocial classBirth seasonality
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , March 2007 , pp. 123 - 128
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AbdelMalik, P., Husted, J., Chow, E.W.C., Bassett, A.S.Childhood head injury and expression of schizophrenia in multiply affected families. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003;60:231–236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 3rd ed.Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press; 1987.Google Scholar
Andreasen, N.C., Olsen, S.Negative versus positive schizophrenia: definition and validations. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1982;39:789–794.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andreason, N.C., Arndt, S., Alliger, R., Miller, D., Flaum, M.Symptoms of schizophrenia: methods, meaning and mechanisms. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1995;52:341–351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andreasen, N.C.Understanding causes of schizophrenia. N Engl J Med 1999;340:645–647.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bagalkote, H., Pang, D., Jones, P.B.Maternal influenza and schizophrenia. Int J Ment Health 2001;29:3–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boydell, J., Murray, R.Urbanization, migration and risk of schizophrenia. In: Murray, R.M., Jones, P.B., Susser, E., van Os, J., Cannon, M.The epidemiology of schizophrenia Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2003. p. 49–67.Google Scholar
Bresnahan, M., Susser, E.Investigating socioenvironmental influences in schizophrenia: conceptual and design issues. In: Murray, R.M., Jones, P.B., Susser, E., van Os, J., Cannon, M.The epidemiology of schizophrenia Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2003. p. 5–17.Google Scholar
Brixey, S.N., Gallagher, B.J., McFalls, J.A., Parmelee, L.F.Gestational and neonatal factors in the etiology of schizophrenia. J Clin Psychol 1993;49:447–456.3.0.CO;2-4>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, A.S., Schaefer, C.A., Wyatt, R.J., Goetz, R.Maternal exposure to respiratory infections and adult schizophrenia spectrum disorders: a prospective birth cohort study. Schizophr Bull 2003;26:287–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, A.S., Susser, E.S., Jandorf, L., Bromet, E.J.Social class of origin and cardinal symptoms of schizophrenic disorders over the early illness course. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2000;35:53–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, A.S., Cohen, P., Harkavy-Fredman, J., Babulas, V., Malaspin, D., Gorman, J.M.et al.Prenatal rubella, premorbid abnormalities, and adult schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 2001;49:473–486.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, A.S., Begg, M.D., Gravenstein, S., Schaefer, C.A., Wyatt, R.J., Bresnahan, M.et al.Serologic evidence of prenatal influenza in the etiology of schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2004;61:774–780.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, A.S., Hooton, J., Schaefer, C.A., Zhang, H., Petkova, E., Babulas, U.et al.Elevated maternal interleukin-8 levels and risk of schizophrenia in adult offspring. Am J Psychiatry 2004;161:889–895.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cannon, M., Kendell, R., Susser, E., Jones, P.Prenatal and perinatal risk factors for schizophrenia. In: Murray, R.M., Jones, P.B., Susser, E., van Os, J., Cannon, M.The epidemiology of schizophrenia Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2003. p. 74–99.Google Scholar
Carpenter, W.T.The deficit syndrome. Am J Psychiatry 1994;151:327–329.Google ScholarPubMed
Foreword, Carpenter W.In: Murray, R.M., Jones, P.B., Susser, E., van Os, J., Cannon, M.The epidemiology of schizophrenia Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2003. p. XV.Google Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Influenza: the disease. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 2004.Google Scholar
Crow, T.J., Done, D.J., Johnstone, E.C.Schizophrenia and influenza. Lancet 1991;38:2003. p. 116–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davey Smith, G.The uses of ‘Uses of Epidemiology’. Int J Epidemiol 2001;30:1146–1155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, G., Welham, J., Chant, D., Torrey, E.F., McGrath, J.A systematic review and meta-analysis of Northern Hemisphere season of birth studies in schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 2003;29:587–593.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, J., Phelps, J., Bracha, H.Prenatal development of monozygotic twins and concordance for schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 1995;21:357–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dollfus, S., Petit, M.Principal component analyses of a PANSS and SANS-SAPS in schizophrenia: their stability in an acute phase. Eur Psychiatry 1995;10:97–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, J., McGorry, P.D., Waddell, F.M., Harrigan, S.M.Enduring negative symptom in first-episode psychosis: comparison of six methods using follow-up data. Schizophr Res 1999;40:147–158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallagher, B.J., McFalls, J.A., Jones, B.J.Racial factors in birth seasonality among schizophrenics: a preliminary analysis. J Abnorm Psychol 1983;92:524–527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallagher, B.J., Jones, B.J., McFalls, J.A.The winter-born phenomenon among schizophrenics: differences between blacks and whites. J Clin Psychol 1984;40:1151–1159.3.0.CO;2-E>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallagher, B.J., McFalls, J.A., Jones, B.J., Pisa, A.M.Prenatal illness and subtypes of schizophrenia: the ‘winter pregnancy phenomenon’. J Clin Psychol 1999;55:915–922.3.0.CO;2-5>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, B.J.The sociology of mental illness. 4th ed.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall; 2002.Google Scholar
Gallagher, B.J., Jones, B.J., McFalls, J.A., Pisa, A.M.Social class and type of schizophrenia. Eur Psychiatry 2006;21:233–237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harper, S.A., Fukuda, K., Uyeki, T.M., Cox, N.J., Bridges, C.B.Prevention and control of influenza. National Center for Infectious Diseases 2004;53(RR06):1–40.Google ScholarPubMed
Hollingshead, A.B.Four factor index of social position. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press; 1975.Google Scholar
Huttunen, M., Niskanen, P.Parental loss of father and psychiatric disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1978;35:427–431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huttman, C.M., Ohman, A.Perinatal characteristics and schizophrenia: electrodermal activity as a mediating link in a vulnerability-stress perspective. Int J Dev Neurosci 1998;16:307–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, P.B., Rantakallio, P., Hartikainen, A.L.Schizophrenia as a long-term outcome of pregnancy delivery and perinatal complications: a 28-year follow-up of the 1966 North Finland general population birth cohort. Am J Psychiatry 1998;155:355–364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kay, S.R., Opler, L.A., Fiszlein, A.Positive and negative syndrome scale. New Haven, CN: Multi-Health Systems, Inc.; 1992.Google Scholar
Keltner, N.L., James, C.A., Darling, R.J., Findley, L.S., Oliver, K.Nature vs. nurture: two brothers with schizophrenia. Perspect Psychiatr Care 2001;37:86–94.Google ScholarPubMed
Kinney, D.K.Prenatal stress and risk for schizophrenia. Int J Mental Health 2001;29:62–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkpatrick, B., Buchanan, R.W., McKenney, P.D., Alphis, L.D., Carpenter, W.T.The schedule for the deficit syndrome: an instrument for research in schizophrenia. J Psychiatr Res 1989;30:119–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkpatrick, B., Herrera Castanedo, S., Vazquez-Barquero, Summer birth and deficit schizophrenia: Cantabria, Spain. J Nerv Ment Dis 2002;190:526–532.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kirkpatrick, B., Messias, N., Conley, R., Roberts, R.Interstitial cells of the white matter in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in deficit and nondeficit schizophrenia. J Nerv Ment Dis 2003;191:563–567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knoke, D., Burke, P.Log-linear models. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications; 1981.Google Scholar
Laing, P., Knight, J.G., Wright, , Irving, W.L.Disruption of fetal brain development by maternal antibodies as an etiological factor in schizophrenia. In: Mednick, S.A., Hollister, J.M.Neural development and schizophrenia: theory and research New York: Plenum Press; 1995. p. 215–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liao, T.Interpreting probability models: logit, probit and other generalized linear models. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications; 1994.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynberg, M., Khoury, M., Lu, X., Cocian, T.Maternal flu, fever, and the risk of neural tube defects: a population-based case-control study. Am J Epidemiol 1994;140:244–255.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lyon, M., Barr, C.Possible interactions of obstetrical complications and abnormal fetal brain development in schizophrenia. In: Mednick, S., Cannon, T., Barr, C., Lyon, M.Fetal neural development and adult schizophrenia Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1991. p. 134–149.Google Scholar
Machon, R.A., Mednick, S.A., Huttunen, M.O.Fetal viral infection and adult schizophrenia: empirical findings and interpretation. In: Mednick, S.A., Hollister, J.M.Neural development and schizophrenia: theory and research New York: Plenum Press; 1995. p. 191–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malla, A.K., Norman, R.M.G., Takhar, J., Manchanda, R., Townsen, L., Schotten, D.et al.Can patients at risk for persistent negative symptoms be identified during their first episode of psychosis?. J Nerv Ment Dis 2004;192:455–463.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGrath, J.Prevention of schizophrenia – not an impossible dream. In: Murray, R.M., Jones, P.B., Susser, E., van Os, J., Cannon, M.The epidemiology of schizophrenia Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2003. p. 427–439.Google Scholar
Messias, E., Kirkpatrick, B.Summer birth and deficit schizophrenia in the Epidemiological Catchment Area Study. J Nerv Ment Dis 2001;189:608–612.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Messias, E., Kirkpatrick, B., Bromet, E., Ross, D., Buchanan, R.W., Carpenter, W.T.et al.Summer deficit and schizophrenia: a pooled analysis from six countries. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2004;61:985–999.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myhrman, A., Rantakallio, P., Isohanni, M., Jones, P.B., Partanen, U.Does unwantedness of a pregnancy predict schizophrenia?. Br J Psychiatry 1996;169:637–640.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nasrallah, H.A., Weinberger, D.R.Neurology of schizophrenia. In: Nasrallah, H.A., Weinberger, D.R.Handbook of schizophrenia vol. 1 Amsterdam: Elsevier; 1990.Google Scholar
Olney, J.W., Wozniak, D.F.Small amounts of alcohol or anesthetics may damage the developing brain. Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Seattle, WA; 2004.Google Scholar
Opler, G.A., Brown, A.S., Graziano, J., Desai, M., Zheng, W., Schaefer, C.et al.Prenatal lead exposure, S-aminolevulinic acid, and schizophrenia. Environ Health Perspect 2004;112:1990. p. 548–552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorenson, H.J., Mortensen, E.L., Reinisch, J.M., Mednick, S.A.Do hypertension and diuretic treatment in pregnancy increase the risk of schizophrenia in offspring?. Am J Psychiatry 2003;160:464–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strous, R.D., Maayan, R., Lapidus, R., Stryjer, R., Lustig, M., Kotler, M.et al.Dehydroepiondrosterone augmentation in the management of negative, depressive and anxiety symptoms in schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003;60:133–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Susser, E., Lin, S.P.Schizophrenia after prenatal exposure to the Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944–1945. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1992;49:983–988.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Susser, E., Neugebauer, R., Hock, H.W., Brown, A.S.Schizophrenia after prenatal famine. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1996;53:25–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Susser, E.B., Brown, A.S., Mattle, T.D.Prenatal factors and adult mental and physical health. Can J Psychiatry 1999;44:326–334.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tek, C., Kirkpatrick, B., Kelly, C., McCreadie, R.G.Summer birth and deficit schizophrenia in Nithsdale. Scotland. J Nerv Ment Dis 2001;189:613–617.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Torrey, E.F., Bowler, A.E., Rawlings, R.An influenza epidemic and the seasonality of schizophrenic births. In: Kurstak, E.Second World Congress on Viruses and Mental Health New York: Plenum; 1991.Google Scholar
US Bureau of the Census Census of population: Classified index of industries and occupations. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 1971.Google Scholar
van Os, J., Setten, J.-P.Prenatal exposure to maternal stress and later schizophrenia: The May 1940 invasion of the Netherlands. Br J Psychiatry 1998;172:1991. p. 324–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, D., Zakzanis, K., Bailey, C., Davila, R., Griese, J., Sartory, G.et al.Further parameters of insight and neuropsychological deficit in schizophrenia and other chronic mental disease. J Nerv Ment Dis 1998;186:44–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.