There is a 5--8% excess of winter-births among schizophrenia patients. This could be due to prenatal exposures to seasonally varying factors. Although winter-born and non-winter-born patients tend to differ in various aspects of the illness, associations between season of birth and premorbid adjustment (PMA) are unclear. Objectives. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether winter-born and non-winter-born schizophrenia patients differ in terms of PMA and to examine how family history may influence the association. A second objective was to determine which of the proposed underlying seasonal factor, and during which trimester of gestation, explains the most variance in PMA. Method. Data on four PMA dimensions (attention, internalising, externalising, and social) and family history were collected for 37 patients. Subject's prenatal exposure to sunshine, temperature, and influenza for each trimester of gestation was calculated. Results . Non-winter-birth and a positive family history of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders were associated with worse PMA. Prenatal exposure to both sunshine and temperatures during the first and third trimesters of gestation explained variance in particular PMA dimensions. Results suggest different mechanisms by which season of birth and family history interact in explaining distinct dimensions of PMA.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.29477 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | St-Hilaire, Annie |
| Contributors | King, Suzanne (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Psychiatry.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001941019, proquestno: MQ85827, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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