Children of schizophrenic mothers

Neurologic abnormalities are common in offspring of mothers with schizophrenia, according to recent research. However, such abnormalities are not usually seen in the offspring of mothers with other mental disorders.Researchers from the Lund University, Sweden, studied young adult offsprings of mothers with schizophrenia or other psychosis (a severe mental derangement resulting in delusions and loss of contact with external reality) such as bipolar disorder, and compared them with offsprings of mothers with no history of psychosis. Neurological abnormalities had been assessed in these subjects in infancy and at 6 years of age. In the current study, they were examined at an average age of 22. The final group consisted of 28 offsprings of mothers with schizophrenia, 22 offsprings of mothers with psychosis and 88 comparison subjects.
It was found that the adult children of mothers with schizophrenia had significantly more neurological abnormalities than offsprings of mothers with psychosis or the comparison subjects. About a third of those with schizophrenic mothers had neurologic conditions such as primitive reflexes, involuntary movements, and cranial nerve abnormalities. Overall, no significant differences were seen between offspring of mothers with affective psychosis and comparison subjects.

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