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Family history study of posttraumatic stress disorder with secondary psychotic symptoms
Frederic J Sautter1, John Cornwell, Janet J Johnson
1South Central Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, New Orleans, LA, USA. sautter@tulane.edu
Objective:
A family history approach was used to determine if posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with secondary psychotic symptoms was associated with a familial vulnerability to schizophrenia and other psychoses.
Method:
Family history methods were used to compare rates of familial psychopathology in the first-degree relatives of three proband groups: 1) patients with DSM-IV PTSD with secondary psychotic symptoms, 2) patients with DSM-IV PTSD without psychotic symptoms, and 3) healthy matched comparison subjects.
Results:
PTSD with secondary psychotic symptoms was not associated with an excess of familial psychotic disorder but was associated with a higher morbid risk for depression.
Conclusions:
PTSD with secondary psychotic symptoms was not associated with familial psychosis, suggesting it does not reflect the presence of an underlying psychotic disorder.