IQ as a prognostic indicator in adult psychiatric first-admissions

Abstract

This study used IQ, along with measures of premorbid adjustment, health‐sickness, symptom level, diagnostic severity and demographic data, to predict to 2‐year outcome measures of level of functioning, health‐sickness, and symptoms for a sample of 145 adult psychiatric first‐admissions. It was hypothesized that IQ as an indicator of cognitive ability, or of general ability to adapt, would predict positively to improvement over the 2‐year period. Data analysis was conducted with bivariate correlations and multiple regressions, using both absolute‐level and residualized outcome variables. IQ showed modest, significant relationships with all absolute outcome indices and six of seven residualized measures, especially for a subsample of those with non‐average IQ scores. Regressions showed that IQ provided independent prediction of symptom outcomes.

Predictors of outcome among adult psychiatric first-admissions

“…The regression results indicate, further, that IQ uniquely points to symptomatic potential and diagnostic severity over time for first admissions. In addition to comprising a measure of innate cognitive abilities, IQ also has been conceptualized as an overall index of social-emotional adjustment (Greenwald et al, 1989;Zigler & Trickett, 1978) and, thus, of intellectual-social-emotional resources available for dealing with stress. If symptoms are viewed, in part, as maladaptive attempts to cope with stresses, these results might be understood as indicating that those individuals with more adaptive coping resources have less tendency to develop symptoms in response to stress.…”

“…The predictors employed were the Phillips (1953) Scale of Premorbid Adjustment, which largely reflects marital status and, secondarily, general premorbid status (Farina et al, 1962;Phillips, 1953;Stoffelmayr, Dillavou, & Hunter, 1983;Strauss & Carpenter, 1974); prognosis (Stoffelmayr et al, 1983); social class (Gift, Strauss, Ritzler, Kokes, &Harder, 1986;Hollingshead & Redlich, 1958); sex (Westermeyer, Harrow, & Marengo, 1988); age (Vaillant, 1962;Zigler & Levine, 1981); IQ (Blotcky, Dimperio, & Gossett, 1984; Cass & Thomas, 1979; Greenwald et al, 1989); race (Harder, Strauss, Kokes, & Ritzler, 1984); life events stresses (Harder, Gift, Strauss, Kokes, & Ritzler, 1981); Menninger Health-Sickness (based largely on a general assessment of the patient's symptom severity; Luborsky, 1962) at initial admission; and severity of first admission diagnosis (Coryell & Tsuang, 1985; Kettering, Harrow, Grossman, & Meltzer, 1987;Westermeyer & Harrow, 1984). This combination of demographic and clinical factors was examined for comparative effectiveness in the prediction of outcome across the representative sample 2 years after initial admission.…”

Parent, family interaction, and child predictors of outcome among sons at psychiatric risk

“…This occurred in part because the selection criteria for index parents excluded those with IQs less than 80, but it does limit any generalization of our findings to a better-functioning population. If, as evidence (Blotcky et al, 1984;Greenwald, 1990a;Greenwald et al, 1989;Watt, 1984;Zigler & Trickett, 1978) and the current results strongly suggest, IQ is a particularly potent predictor of long-term outcome under many conditions, then the URCAFS sample may be a high-risk cohort with relatively good longitudinal prospects, not necessarily at a marked disadvantage when compared to a general population IQ of about 100.…”

“…Lastly, the predictive capacity of child IQ, often conceptualized as an index of adaptive capacity and social competence, as well as of cognitive functioning (Goldfarb, 1970;Greenwald et al, 1989;Watt, 1984;Zigler & Trickett, 1978), also was expected to be substantial. Such predictive efficacy for future dysfunction has been supported by a number of studies (Blotcky, Dimperio, & Gosset, 1984;Cass &Thomas, 1979;Goldfarb, 1970;Rutter, 1977), including one investigation of the URCAFS boys (Greenwald, 1990a).…”

Aberrant salience correlates with psychotic dimensions in outpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders

“…The presence of elevated levels of heightened cognition was found to be positively correlated to unusual thought content [ 50 ] and studies have shown that this dimension of aberrant salience is able to distinguish patients with psychosis from other psychiatric patients, suggesting it may be the most specific for psychosis [ 51 ]. Speaking about heightened cognition, the role of neurocognition and intelligence quotient (IQ) prognosis of severe psychiatric diseases is still far from being completely understood [ 52 ]. Indeed, there are some emerging data about the correlation between higher IQ and a different prognosis in severe psychiatric conditions, which deserves more future research [ 53 , 54 ].…”