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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry
Sec. Developmental Psychopathology and Mental Health
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frcha.2024.1410804

Understanding Psychotic-Like Experiences in Children in the Context of Dimensions of Psychological Problems

Provisionally accepted
Hee Jung Jeong Hee Jung Jeong 1Benjamin B. Lahey Benjamin B. Lahey 2Gabrielle E. Reimann Gabrielle E. Reimann 1E L. Durham E L. Durham 1Camille Archer Camille Archer 1Tyler M. Moore Tyler M. Moore 3Krisha Shah Krisha Shah 1Antonia Kaczkurkin Antonia Kaczkurkin 1*
  • 1 Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States
  • 2 The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
  • 3 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Although psychotic behaviors can be difficult to assess in children, early identification of children at high risk for the emergence of psychotic symptoms may facilitate the prevention of related disorders. Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), or subthreshold thought and perceptual disturbances, could be early manifestations of psychosis that may predict a future diagnosis of a psychosis-related disorder or nonspecific correlates of a wide range of psychological problems. Additional research is needed regarding how PLEs map onto dimensions of psychopathology in children. In the present study, we examined the association between PLEs and general and specific dimensions of psychological problems in a sample of 10,692 children from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD Study). The results of this study showed that self-reported PLEs were associated with a general psychopathology factor and an ADHD factor, which were defined in hierarchical models of parent-rated psychological problems. These findings suggest that PLEs are broadly associated with a wide range of psychological problems through the general psychopathology factor even before psychotic disorders typically manifest. This study supports the need for longitudinal analyses of future waves of the ABCD Study to determine if PLEs can detect children at high risk for serious psychological problems in adulthood.

    Keywords: psychotic-like experience, General psychopathology, ADHD, Conduct problems, Children

    Received: 01 Apr 2024; Accepted: 18 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jeong, Lahey, Reimann, Durham, Archer, Moore, Shah and Kaczkurkin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Antonia Kaczkurkin, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, 37240, Tennessee, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.