The effects of recent stressful life events on outcomes in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis: results from the longitudinal EU-GEI high-risk study

EU-GEI High Risk Study

doi:10.1017/S0033291724003039

The effects of recent stressful life events on outcomes in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis: results from the longitudinal EU-GEI high-risk study

EU-GEI High Risk Study

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Recent stressful life events (SLE) are a risk factor for psychosis, but limited research has explored how SLEs affect individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. The current study investigated the longitudinal effects of SLEs on functioning and symptom severity in CHR individuals, where we hypothesized CHR would report more SLEs than healthy controls (HC), and SLEs would be associated with poorer outcomes.

METHODS: The study used longitudinal data from the EU-GEI High Risk study. Data from 331 CHR participants were analyzed to examine the effects of SLEs on changes in functioning, positive and negative symptoms over a 2-year follow-up. We compared the prevalence of SLEs between CHR and HCs, and between CHR who did (CHR-T) and did not (CHR-NT) transition to psychosis.

RESULTS: CHR reported 1.44 more SLEs than HC ( p < 0.001), but there was no difference in SLEs between CHR-T and CHR-NT at baseline. Recent SLEs were associated with poorer functioning and more severe positive and negative symptoms in CHR individuals (all p < 0.01) but did not reveal a significant interaction with time.

CONCLUSIONS: CHR individuals who had experienced recent SLEs exhibited poorer functioning and more severe symptoms. However, as the interaction between SLEs and time was not significant, this suggests SLEs did not contribute to a worsening of symptoms and functioning over the study period. SLEs could be a key risk factor to becoming CHR for psychosis, however further work is required to inform when early intervention strategies mitigating against the effects of stress are most effective.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4768-4778
Number of pages	11
Journal	Psychological Medicine
Volume	54
Issue number	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291724003039
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 8 Jan 2025

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10.1017/S0033291724003039

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@article{e20fa60460c04b409ee3412ff21fa278,

title = "The effects of recent stressful life events on outcomes in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis: results from the longitudinal EU-GEI high-risk study",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: Recent stressful life events (SLE) are a risk factor for psychosis, but limited research has explored how SLEs affect individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. The current study investigated the longitudinal effects of SLEs on functioning and symptom severity in CHR individuals, where we hypothesized CHR would report more SLEs than healthy controls (HC), and SLEs would be associated with poorer outcomes.METHODS: The study used longitudinal data from the EU-GEI High Risk study. Data from 331 CHR participants were analyzed to examine the effects of SLEs on changes in functioning, positive and negative symptoms over a 2-year follow-up. We compared the prevalence of SLEs between CHR and HCs, and between CHR who did (CHR-T) and did not (CHR-NT) transition to psychosis.RESULTS: CHR reported 1.44 more SLEs than HC ( p < 0.001), but there was no difference in SLEs between CHR-T and CHR-NT at baseline. Recent SLEs were associated with poorer functioning and more severe positive and negative symptoms in CHR individuals (all p < 0.01) but did not reveal a significant interaction with time. CONCLUSIONS: CHR individuals who had experienced recent SLEs exhibited poorer functioning and more severe symptoms. However, as the interaction between SLEs and time was not significant, this suggests SLEs did not contribute to a worsening of symptoms and functioning over the study period. SLEs could be a key risk factor to becoming CHR for psychosis, however further work is required to inform when early intervention strategies mitigating against the effects of stress are most effective.",

author = "{EU-GEI High Risk Study} and See, {Cheryl R Z} and Shuqing Si and Emily Hedges and Stefania Tognin and Gemma Modinos and {van der Gaag}, Mark and {de Haan}, Lieuwe and Eva Velthorst and Patrick McGorry and Barnaby Nelson and Anita Riecher-R{\"o}ssler and Rodrigo Bressan and Neus Barrantes-Vidal and Marie-Odile Krebs and Merete Nordentoft and Stephan Ruhrmann and Gabriele Sachs and Rutten, {Bart P} and {van Os}, Jim and Philip McGuire and Valmaggia, {Lucia R} and Kempton, {Matthew J}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} The Author(s), 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = jan,

day = "8",

doi = "10.1017/S0033291724003039",

language = "English",

volume = "54",

pages = "4768--4778",

journal = "Psychological Medicine",

issn = "0033-2917",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

number = "16",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The effects of recent stressful life events on outcomes in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis

T2 - results from the longitudinal EU-GEI high-risk study

AU - EU-GEI High Risk Study

AU - See, Cheryl R Z

AU - Si, Shuqing

AU - Hedges, Emily

AU - Tognin, Stefania

AU - Modinos, Gemma

AU - van der Gaag, Mark

AU - de Haan, Lieuwe

AU - Velthorst, Eva

AU - McGorry, Patrick

AU - Nelson, Barnaby

AU - Riecher-Rössler, Anita

AU - Bressan, Rodrigo

AU - Barrantes-Vidal, Neus

AU - Krebs, Marie-Odile

AU - Nordentoft, Merete

AU - Ruhrmann, Stephan

AU - Sachs, Gabriele

AU - Rutten, Bart P

AU - van Os, Jim

AU - McGuire, Philip

AU - Valmaggia, Lucia R

AU - Kempton, Matthew J

PY - 2025/1/8

Y1 - 2025/1/8

N2 - BACKGROUND: Recent stressful life events (SLE) are a risk factor for psychosis, but limited research has explored how SLEs affect individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. The current study investigated the longitudinal effects of SLEs on functioning and symptom severity in CHR individuals, where we hypothesized CHR would report more SLEs than healthy controls (HC), and SLEs would be associated with poorer outcomes.METHODS: The study used longitudinal data from the EU-GEI High Risk study. Data from 331 CHR participants were analyzed to examine the effects of SLEs on changes in functioning, positive and negative symptoms over a 2-year follow-up. We compared the prevalence of SLEs between CHR and HCs, and between CHR who did (CHR-T) and did not (CHR-NT) transition to psychosis.RESULTS: CHR reported 1.44 more SLEs than HC ( p < 0.001), but there was no difference in SLEs between CHR-T and CHR-NT at baseline. Recent SLEs were associated with poorer functioning and more severe positive and negative symptoms in CHR individuals (all p < 0.01) but did not reveal a significant interaction with time. CONCLUSIONS: CHR individuals who had experienced recent SLEs exhibited poorer functioning and more severe symptoms. However, as the interaction between SLEs and time was not significant, this suggests SLEs did not contribute to a worsening of symptoms and functioning over the study period. SLEs could be a key risk factor to becoming CHR for psychosis, however further work is required to inform when early intervention strategies mitigating against the effects of stress are most effective.

AB - BACKGROUND: Recent stressful life events (SLE) are a risk factor for psychosis, but limited research has explored how SLEs affect individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. The current study investigated the longitudinal effects of SLEs on functioning and symptom severity in CHR individuals, where we hypothesized CHR would report more SLEs than healthy controls (HC), and SLEs would be associated with poorer outcomes.METHODS: The study used longitudinal data from the EU-GEI High Risk study. Data from 331 CHR participants were analyzed to examine the effects of SLEs on changes in functioning, positive and negative symptoms over a 2-year follow-up. We compared the prevalence of SLEs between CHR and HCs, and between CHR who did (CHR-T) and did not (CHR-NT) transition to psychosis.RESULTS: CHR reported 1.44 more SLEs than HC ( p < 0.001), but there was no difference in SLEs between CHR-T and CHR-NT at baseline. Recent SLEs were associated with poorer functioning and more severe positive and negative symptoms in CHR individuals (all p < 0.01) but did not reveal a significant interaction with time. CONCLUSIONS: CHR individuals who had experienced recent SLEs exhibited poorer functioning and more severe symptoms. However, as the interaction between SLEs and time was not significant, this suggests SLEs did not contribute to a worsening of symptoms and functioning over the study period. SLEs could be a key risk factor to becoming CHR for psychosis, however further work is required to inform when early intervention strategies mitigating against the effects of stress are most effective.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85214869983&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1017/S0033291724003039

DO - 10.1017/S0033291724003039

M3 - Article

C2 - 39773326

SN - 0033-2917

VL - 54

SP - 4768

EP - 4778

JO - Psychological Medicine

JF - Psychological Medicine

IS - 16

ER -

The effects of recent stressful life events on outcomes in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis: results from the longitudinal EU-GEI high-risk study

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