Raine Adrian, Mellingen Kjetil, Liu Jianghong, Venables Peter, Mednick Sarnoff A
Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1061, USA.
Am J Psychiatry. 2003 Sep;160(9):1627-35. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.160.9.1627.
Methods to prevent two major mental disorders, schizophrenia and conduct disorder, have been elusive. This study assessed the effects of an early nutritional, educational, and physical exercise enrichment program on adult outcome for schizotypal personality, conduct disorder, and criminal behavior.
Eighty-three children were assigned to an experimental enrichment program from ages 3 to 5 years and matched on temperament, nutritional, cognitive, autonomic, and demographic variables with 355 children who experienced usual community conditions (control group). Both self-report and objective measures of schizotypal personality and antisocial behavior were obtained when the subjects were ages 17 and 23 years.
Subjects who participated in the enrichment program at ages 3-5 years had lower scores for schizotypal personality and antisocial behavior at age 17 years and for criminal behavior at age 23 years, compared with the control subjects. The beneficial effects of the intervention were greater for children who showed signs of malnutrition at age 3 years, particularly with respect to outcomes for schizotypy at ages 17 and 23 and for antisocial behavior at age 17.
The results are consistent with an increasing body of knowledge that implicates an enriched, stimulating environment in beneficial psychological and behavioral outcomes. These findings have potential implications for the prevention of schizophrenia and criminal behavior.
预防两种主要精神障碍——精神分裂症和品行障碍的方法一直难以捉摸。本研究评估了一项早期营养、教育和体育锻炼强化项目对分裂型人格、品行障碍及犯罪行为的成人期结局的影响。
83名儿童在3至5岁时被分配到一个实验性强化项目中，并在气质、营养、认知、自主神经及人口统计学变量方面与355名经历常规社区环境的儿童（对照组）进行匹配。在受试者17岁和23岁时获取了关于分裂型人格和反社会行为的自我报告及客观测量数据。
与对照组相比，3至5岁时参加强化项目的受试者在17岁时的分裂型人格和反社会行为得分较低，在23岁时的犯罪行为得分也较低。对于3岁时表现出营养不良迹象的儿童，干预的有益效果更大，尤其是在17岁和23岁时的分裂型特质结局以及17岁时的反社会行为方面。
这些结果与越来越多的知识相一致，即丰富、刺激的环境与有益的心理和行为结局相关。这些发现对精神分裂症和犯罪行为的预防具有潜在意义。
