Association between age of cannabis initiation and gray matter covariance networks in recent onset psychosis

Cannabis use during adolescence is associated with an increased risk of developing psychosis. According to a current hypothesis, this results from detrimental effects of early cannabis use on brain maturation during this vulnerable period. However, studies investigating the interaction between early cannabis use and brain structural alterations hitherto reported inconclusive findings. We investigated effects of age of cannabis initiation on psychosis using data from the multicentric Personalized Prognostic Tools for Early Psychosis Management (PRONIA) and the Cannabis Induced Psychosis (CIP) studies, yielding a total sample of 102 clinically-relevant cannabis users with recent onset psychosis. GM covariance underlies shared maturational processes. Therefore, we performed source-based morphometry analysis with spatial constraints on structural brain networks showing significant alterations in schizophrenia in a previous multisite study, thus testing associations of these networks with the age of cannabis initiation and with confounding factors. Earlier cannabis initiation was associated with more severe positive symptoms in our cohort. Greater gray matter volume (GMV) in the previously identified cerebellar schizophrenia-related network had a significant association with early cannabis use, independent of several possibly confounding factors. Moreover, GMV in the cerebellar network was associated with lower volume in another network previously associated with schizophrenia, comprising the insula, superior temporal, and inferior frontal gyrus. These findings are in line with previous investigations in healthy cannabis users, and suggest that early initiation of cannabis perturbs the developmental trajectory of certain structural brain networks in a manner imparting risk for psychosis later in life

Validation of the Bullying Scale for Adults - Results of the PRONIA-study

Background: Bullying as a specific subtype of adverse life events is a major risk factor for poor mental health. Although many questionnaires on bullying are available, so far none covers bullying retrospectively throughout school and working life. To close this gap, the Bullying Scale for Adults (BSA) was designed. Methods: Based on data of 622 participants from five European countries collected in the prospective multicenter Personalized Prognostic Tools for Early Psychosis Management (PRONIA) study, we investigated whether the BSA is a reliable and valid measurement for bullying and whether there is a difference across different diagnostic groups of early mental disorders (recent onset depressive/ psychotic patients, patients at clinical high-risk of psychosis) and healthy controls. Results: Bullying experiences were significantly less frequent in healthy controls than in patient groups, with no significant differences between the three clinical groups. The BSA exhibited a high item scale discrimination (r >.3) and very good internal consistency (Cronbach's \u3b1 =.93). Four factors were identified: 1. Sexual harassment, 2. Emotional Abuse, 3. Physical Abuse, 4. Problems at school. The highly significant correlation between bullying, and childhood adversities and trauma (r =.645, p <.001) indicated good concurrent validity. Discussion: The BSA is the first validated questionnaire that, in retrospective, reliably records various aspects of bullying (incl. its consequences) not only throughout childhood but also working life. It can be used to assess bullying as a transdiagnostic risk factor of mental disorders in different mental disorders, esp. psychosis and depression