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Academic attainment: a predictor of psychiatric disorders?

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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aim

Poor academic performance can reflect the neurobiological abnormalities underlying schizophrenia and has been suggested as a premorbid marker for the disorder. However, it is not clear as to how academic performance compares as a marker for other mental disorders. The objective of this study was to examine whether educational attainment is a candidate marker for certain psychiatric disorders.

Methods

Using a retrospective cohort design, we compared the early educational performance of 6957 National Service male conscripts. The presence of mental illness was assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Academic performance was assessed using the results of a standardized national examination after 6 years of primary education.

Results

Adjusting for ethnicity, the scores from this examination revealed that those with schizophrenia spectrum disorders scored significantly lower than those without any mental illness.

Conclusions

Poor educational attainment predicts the onset of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and could be a possible predictor for this specific group of mental illness.

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Acknowledgment

This research was sponsored by Defence Science Organisation (DSO) National Laboratories, Singapore. Project grant number: DSOCL04023

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Mental Health, Buangkok Green Medical Park, 10 Buangkok View, Singapore, 539747, Singapore

    Siow Ann Chong, Mythily Subramaniam, Elaine Pek & Swapna Verma

  2. Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 900 Commonwealth Avenue East, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    I-Min Lee

  3. Psychological Care Centre, 27 Medical Drive #08-01, Singapore, 117510, Singapore

    Christopher Cheok

  4. HQ SAF Medical Corps, 701 Transit Road, #06-01, Nee Soon Camp, Singapore, 778910, Singapore

    John Wong

Authors
  1. Siow Ann Chong
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  2. Mythily Subramaniam
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  3. I-Min Lee
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  4. Elaine Pek
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  5. Christopher Cheok
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  6. Swapna Verma
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  7. John Wong
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mythily Subramaniam.

Additional information

S. A. Chong and M. Subramaniam are joint first authors.

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Chong, S.A., Subramaniam, M., Lee, IM. et al. Academic attainment: a predictor of psychiatric disorders?. Soc Psychiat Epidemiol 44, 999–1004 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0027-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0027-3

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