The New York High-Risk Project - Comorbidity for axis I disorders is preceded by childhood behavioral disturbance

The relationship between childhood behavioral disturbance and comorbidity f or adult psychiatric disorders has not been sufficiently investigated. Subj ects of this report (N = 185) were offspring of parents with schizophrenia or affective disorder and of normal parents from the New York High-Risk Pro ject. Data on childhood behavior at the mean age of 9.5 years were obtained in a parent interview at initial assessment in 1971-72. Adulthood outcomes were assessed through standardized interviews, and lifetime axis I diagnos es were based on Research Diagnostic Criteria. Subjects with comorbidity fo r axis I disorders exhibited significantly more behavioral problems as chil dren, compared with those who developed either one or no psychiatric disord er in adulthood. This association was not biased by gender or parental diag nosis of psychiatric disorder. The findings emphasize that psychiatric como rbidity can be traced back to childhood and underline the importance of lon gitudinal observations in psychiatric research.