The Causes of Schizophrenia: Neurodevelopment and Other Risk Factors

Research output: Contribution to journalLiterature reviewpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Understanding the etiology of schizophrenia has been a considerable challenge. The neurodevelopmental hypothesis has held sway in recent years, focusing our attention on biological causes acting in early life. Much evidence supports this hypothesis and risk factors operating in early life (e.g., obstetric complications) have been shown to be associated with the later development of schizophrenia. Indicators of abnormal neurodevelopment that characterize individuals vulnerable to later developing schizophrenia have also been identified. For example, as a group, children who will later develop schizophrenia subtly differ from their peers in terms of their motor, cognitive, and social functioning. However, there is much that cannot be explained in purely neurodevelopmental terms. There is growing evidence of associations between the risk of schizophrenia and factors such as drug misuse, ethnicity/migration, life events, and urbanicity. A multifactorial model of causation that encompasses biological, social, and psychological elements is arguably both a better representation of current research findings and a more appropriate model for clinical practice
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)442 - 454
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Psychiatric Practice
Volume9
Issue number6
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2003

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The Causes of Schizophrenia: Neurodevelopment and Other Risk Factors'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this