Psychosis, victimisation and childhood disadvantage: evidence from the second British National Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity.

BACKGROUND

Adverse early circumstances may be more common in people who later develop psychotic disorders.

AIMS: To use data from the second British National Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity to examine associations between psychotic disorders and a number of early victimisation experiences.

METHOD: Psychiatric disorders were identified through structured assessment of adults resident in private households in Britain (n=8580). Respondents were asked whether they had experienced selected events displayed on cards.

RESULTS

Compared with respondents with other psychiatric disorders or with none, the prevalence of every experience bar one was significantly elevated in those with definite or probable psychosis. The largest odds ratio was for sexual abuse. Controlling for depressed mood somewhat reduced the odds ratios for the individual experiences.

CONCLUSIONS

In people with psychosis, there is a marked excess of victimising experiences, many of which will have occurred during childhood. This is suggestive of a social contribution to aetiology.