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Evidence that childhood urban environment is associated with blunted stress reactivity across groups of patients with psychosis, relatives of patients and controls

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Abstract

Purpose

Psychosis is associated with urban upbringing, and increased emotional reactivity is associated with psychosis. The aim of this study was to examine to what degree urban upbringing impacts emotional reactivity, and how this may be relevant for psychotic disorder and familial risk of psychotic disorder.

Methods

Patients with a diagnosis of non-affective psychotic disorder (n = 57), 59 first degree relatives of patients and 75 healthy comparison subjects were studied with the experience sampling method (a random time sampling technique to assess affective experience in relation to fluctuating stressors in the flow of daily life), to measure a change in negative affect in relation to subjective stress. Urban exposure was defined at 5 levels, considering the population density and the number of moves between birth and the 15th birthday, using data from the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics and the equivalent database in Belgium.

Results

Multilevel random regression analyses showed that urban upbringing was consistently and strongly associated with a reduced increase in negative affect in relation to SS in adulthood in a dose–response fashion in all three groups. Regression coefficients in the patient group decreased from 0.148 (p < 0.001) in the lowest urbanicity level to 0.094 (p < 0.001) in the highest urbanicity level.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that urban upbringing may occasion “habituation” rather than “sensitization” across groups, which may or may not be relevant for the onset of psychotic disorder.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, PO Box 616 (DRT10), 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Aleida Frissen, Ritsaert Lieverse, Marjan Drukker, Philippe Delespaul, Tineke Lataster, Inez Myin-Germeys & Jim van Os

  2. Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, London, UK

    Jim van Os

Authors
  1. Aleida Frissen
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  2. Ritsaert Lieverse
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  3. Marjan Drukker
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  4. Philippe Delespaul
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  5. Tineke Lataster
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  6. Inez Myin-Germeys
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  7. Jim van Os
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ritsaert Lieverse.

Additional information

For Genetic Risk and Outcome in Psychosis (GROUP).

Please see the Appendix sections for overview GROUP investigators.

Appendix

Appendix

GROUP investigators: René S Kahn1, Don H Linszen2, Jim van Os3,4, Durk Wiersma5, Richard Bruggeman5, Wiepke Cahn1, Lieuwe de Haan2, Lydia Krabbendam3, Inez Myin-Germeys3.

1Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, The Netherlands; 2Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Center University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 3Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), South Limburg Mental Health Research and Teaching Network (SEARCH), Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands; 4Department of Psychosis Studies, King’s College, King’s Health Partners, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, UK; 5Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

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Frissen, A., Lieverse, R., Drukker, M. et al. Evidence that childhood urban environment is associated with blunted stress reactivity across groups of patients with psychosis, relatives of patients and controls. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 49, 1579–1587 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0859-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0859-3

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