Psychiatric symptoms and related dysfunction in a general population sample

摘要

Background Along with the key clinical features of major psychiatric disorders such as psychosis, mania, and depression, these disorders are also associated with cognitive, social, and functional deficits. A growing body of evidence suggests that these disorders exist at the extreme end of a continuum of symptoms rather than as binary entities, so it is plausible that the associated cognitive, social, and functional deficits assume a similar pattern. Consistent with this approach, we sought to determine whether adults in the general population with psychiatric symptoms also demonstrate milder forms of the cognitive, social, and functional deficits that are often associated with the psychiatric disorders. Methods Using data from the Study of Resilience and Environmental Adversity in Midlife Health (STREAM), which includes survey responses of 811 individuals, we compared early academic achievement and self-reported social and functional outcomes between respondents who reported psychotic symptoms, manic symptoms, depressive symptoms, or no psychiatric symptoms (controls). Results Adults with psychotic symptoms had significantly poorer early academic performance (p?=?.04) and social and functional outcomes (self-reported marital status, p?=?.021, income, p?=?.001, and health, p?