Influence of socioeconomic status on delusional-like experiences in adults.

摘要

To the Editor: I read with great interest the article by James Scott, M.B.B.S., F.R.A.N.Z.C.P., et al. (1), published in the May 2009 issue of the Journal. Importantly, Scott et al. showed that measures of psychopathology identified at ages 5 and 14 years predict delusional beliefs at age 21. Although previous cross-sectional studies have documented such a relationship (2), this is one of few longitudinal studies in the area.In order to minimize the effect of potential confounding variables, the authors made adjustments for gender, age, and substance use. After doing so, statistical relationships remained significant. The authors also appear to have collected data from the study cohort on a number of additional relevant demographic variables, such as education and marital status. However, they did not examine the effects of these variables on the relationship between childhood psychopathology and adult delusions but rather explored the effects of these variables on missing data.