Associations of Behaviour Disorders in Childhood and Psychotic-Like Symptoms in Adolescence

The general aim of the project is to analyze the associations between childhood behaviour disorders and psychotic symptoms in adolescence. Many adults with psychotic symptoms and/or schizophreniform disorders received a psychiatric diagnosis in childhood. These diagnoses cover the full range of developmental, internalizing, externalizing, and behavioural disorders (Rubino et al., 2008). To date, it is not clear whether the presence of childhood mental symptoms and disorders as such represents a general risk factor for later psychopathology or whether there are specific associations indicated by stronger correlations for some disorders (research question 1) and how these associations are characterized (research question 2).