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The influence of life events on the subsequent course of psychotic illness: A prospective follow-up of the Camberwell Collaborative Psychosis Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

J. Van Os ,
T. A. Fahy ,
P. Bebbington ,
P. Jones ,
S. Wilkins ,
P. Sham ,
A. Russell ,
K. Gilvarry ,
S. Lewis  and
B. Toone
...Show all authors
J. Van Os*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, MRC Social and Community Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry; King's College Hospital; Maudsley Hospital;Academic Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London
T. A. Fahy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, MRC Social and Community Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry; King's College Hospital; Maudsley Hospital;Academic Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London
P. Bebbington
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, MRC Social and Community Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry; King's College Hospital; Maudsley Hospital;Academic Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London
P. Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, MRC Social and Community Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry; King's College Hospital; Maudsley Hospital;Academic Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London
S. Wilkins
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, MRC Social and Community Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry; King's College Hospital; Maudsley Hospital;Academic Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London
P. Sham
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, MRC Social and Community Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry; King's College Hospital; Maudsley Hospital;Academic Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London
A. Russell
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, MRC Social and Community Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry; King's College Hospital; Maudsley Hospital;Academic Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London
K. Gilvarry
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, MRC Social and Community Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry; King's College Hospital; Maudsley Hospital;Academic Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London
S. Lewis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, MRC Social and Community Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry; King's College Hospital; Maudsley Hospital;Academic Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London
B. Toone
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, MRC Social and Community Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry; King's College Hospital; Maudsley Hospital;Academic Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London
R. Murray
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, MRC Social and Community Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry; King's College Hospital; Maudsley Hospital;Academic Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London
*
1 Address for correspondence: Dr Jim van Os, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
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Synopsis

Fifty-nine psychotic patients with acute onset of illness, who had been interviewed about their experience of stressful life events before the episode, were followed up for an average of 42 months. Thirty patients (51%) had experienced a stressful life event in the 3 months immediately before onset (EV +), 29 had not (EV −).

In patients with an RDC diagnosis of affective disorder or unspecified functional psychosis, the presence of stressful life events was associated subsequently with milder symptom severity, less time spent in hospital, more treatment for depressive symptoms and less for psychotic symptoms. In schizophrenia, differences were less apparent, but patients with event associated episodes had less need of anti-psychotic maintenance medication over the follow-up period and tended to have spent more time in complete remission. EV + schizophrenic subjects also had higher morbid risk for schizophrenia in their first degree relatives, and tended to be female and to have less typical symptoms than EV − schizophrenic patients.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , May 1994 , pp. 503 - 513
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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