Children have active imaginations and it is rare for them to be diagnosed with psychosis. However, a study by researchers at the Early Psychosis Investigation Center (EPICenter) at Boston Children's Hospital found that children and adolescents with true psychotic symptoms have high levels of copy number variants (CNVs), duplications or deletions of chunks of their DNA.
Neuroscience News reported that researchers genetically tested 137 children and adolescents with early onset psychosis (EOP), which are psychotic symptoms that appear before age 18. Their findings suggest chromosomal microarray testing is important for any child with EOP.
Childhood Psychosis Is All in the Genes
According to the study titled "Similar Rates of Deleterious Copy Number Variants in Early-Onset Psychosis and Autism Spectrum Disorder," published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, more than 70% of the participants started to experience psychosis before they reached the age of 13 years old and 28% of them passed the criteria for schizophrenia and have unrelenting symptoms.
Each participant underwent systematic testing for DNA duplications and deletions and researchers found that 40% of them tested positive. They wrote in their study that CNVs are strongly associated with neurodevelopmental and psychotic disorders, and EOP is thought to be more likely influenced by genetic factors than adult-onset psychotic disorders.
Catherine Brownstein, MPH, Ph.D., co-led of the study, said that the findings strongly support chromosomal microarray testing in any child or adolescent with EOP symptoms because it brings closure to families and helps advance research.
The team added that CNV status had influenced EOP, but its prevalence and effect on the latter are still unclear. They further suggested that the genetic architecture of EOP is still largely unknown even though genetic information could help uncover the clinical heterogeneity in EOP.
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Genetic Testing Brings Families Relief
According to Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, families are often relieved to learn that the psychotic symptoms of their children have a biological component. Sometimes, a child's psychosis may be misdiagnosed, dismissed as a normal developmental phase, attributed to stress, or even blamed for bad parenting.
There are also cases in which psychotic symptoms are neglected because a child has autism or other neurodevelopmental disorder. About one-third of the participants in the study had a diagnosis of the autism spectrum disorder, 12% had intellectual disability disorder, and 18% had a history of seizures.
Researchers emphasize the importance of genetic testing to find the CNV that may help them treat the symptoms. They noted that the longer psychosis goes untreated, the harder it will be to treat it soon.
Many children may display psychotic-like behavior, such as having an imaginary friend, but true psychosis is distressing to kids. They could have hallucinations of criticizing, scaring, or telling them bad things. They could also feel that strangers are staring at them and planning to do something bad.
Psychotic symptoms in some children come and go, especially when they are under stress, angry, depressed, or have mood swings. The earliest signs of psychosis may include being withdrawn, a decline in day-to-day functioning, frequent outbursts, and later on, hallucinations and paranoia. For those with schizophrenia, the symptoms could be extreme.
Researchers concluded that finding a CNV in a child with psychosis allows the family to be tested to see if any of them are at risk. CNVs are also linked to complications like seizures and cardiovascular problems. Family members with CNVs risk these medical problems even if they do not display behavioral problems.
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