Life events and their subjective appraisal by children and adolescents in clinical high-risk states of psychosis: a cross-sectional comparison with inpatients with non-psychotic disorders and community subjects.

While childhood trauma and neglect are generally found to be increased in clinical high-risk of psychosis (CHR-P), findings on life events (LEs) are so far inconclusive, with some indication of a stress sensitization effect in CHR-P, leading to generally higher stress appraisals of LEs, and a LE-red...

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Published in:European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Vol. 35; no. 5; pp. 1677 - 1688
Main Authors: Kullmann, Celina, Michel, Chantal, Walger, Petra, Franscini, Maurizia, Traber-Walker, Nina, Schimmelmann, Benno G., Flückiger, Rahel, Reissner, Volker, Schultze-Lutter, Frauke
Format: research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Springer Nature May2026
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: May2026
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      pub: Springer Nature
      place: New York, New York
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        10.1007/s00787-025-02949-6
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        atl: Life events and their subjective appraisal by children and adolescents in clinical high-risk states of psychosis: a cross-sectional comparison with inpatients with non-psychotic disorders and community subjects.
      aug:
        au:
          Kullmann, Celina
          Michel, Chantal
          Walger, Petra
          Franscini, Maurizia
          Traber-Walker, Nina
          Schimmelmann, Benno G.
          Flückiger, Rahel
          Reissner, Volker
          Schultze-Lutter, Frauke
        affil: https://ror.org/024z2rq82 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Bergische Landstraße 2, 40629, Düsseldorf, Germany
      sug:
        subj:
          Psychotic Disorders Risk Factors
          Psychotic Disorders Risk Factors
          Adverse Childhood Experiences Psychosocial Factors
          Life Experiences
          Risk Assessment
          Human
          Switzerland
          Germany
          Male
          Female
          Child
          Adolescence
          Cross Sectional Studies
          Comparative Studies
          Inpatients
          Community Living
          Psychotic Disorders Symptoms
          Interpersonal Relations
          Stress, Psychological
          Support, Social
          Descriptive Statistics
          Data Analysis Software
          Chi Square Test
          Kruskal-Wallis Test
          Mann-Whitney U Test
          Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient
          Regression
          Scales
          Psychological Tests
          Interview Guides
          Child: 6-12 years
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: While childhood trauma and neglect are generally found to be increased in clinical high-risk of psychosis (CHR-P), findings on life events (LEs) are so far inconclusive, with some indication of a stress sensitization effect in CHR-P, leading to generally higher stress appraisals of LEs, and a LE-reducing effect of negative symptoms. Thus, we studied 50 LEs and their appraisals as assessed with the Munich Life Event Scale in CHR-P patients according to ultra-high risk and basic symptom criteria and age- and sex-matched clinical inpatient (ClinS) and healthy controls (GPS; each n = 112, age 8–17 yrs., 57.1% female). LEs, particularly those of interpersonal nature, were increased in CHR-P compared to GPS but not ClinS, and their number and presence was positively related to subjective negative symptoms. Furthermore, appraisals rarely and only unsystematically differed between groups but correlated significantly in most cases with a more negative appraisal being related to a higher stress appraisal. Thus, there was no indication of a significant stress sensitization effect in CHR-P. Rather, the increased number of LEs, in particular interpersonal ones, likely increases the overall load of stress in terms of a stress accumulation and decreases the size of the supportive social network as well as increases negative symptoms. Thus, early interventions in CHR-P should also include improving strategies to deal with LEs, particularly those of interpersonal nature, to improve resilience and reduce burden of non-normative LEs.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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