Late-onset schizophrenia in child survivors of the holocaust

According to the stress diathesis model, the probability of psychosis is increased in high-risk groups, a vulnerable one being the Holocaust child survivors. This study was conducted to inquire into the long-term effects of their Holocaust experience. We concentrated on a possible association between the onset of schizophrenia and the degree of persecution. Ninety-three medical files of Holocaust child survivors were recruited from sociomedical expert reports of the Restitution Office in Germany. The onset of schizophrenia was used as dependent variable in a categorical regression model. Regarding schizophrenia, exclusively late-onset schizophrenia could be diagnosed in our sample. Schizophrenia was significantly associated with the highest category of persecution (Fisher exact test, p < 0.001). In the categorical regression model, the category of persecution was a significant coefficient, only (F = 23.9, p < 0.001). The strong association between late onset of schizophrenia and the degree of persecution suggest an influence of stress exposure.