Cognitive and global morphometry trajectories as predictors of persistent distressing psychotic-like experiences in youth

Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) may result from genetic and environmental risk factors that contribute to progressive declines in cognition and brain morphometry, which in turn exacerbate PLEs over time. Here we used three waves of unique longitudinal Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study data (ages 9–13 years) to test whether changes in cognition and global morphometry metrics attenuate associations between genetic and environmental risk with persistent distressing PLEs. Multigroup univariate latent growth models examined three waves of cognitive metrics and global morphometry separately for three PLEs groups: persistent distressing PLEs (n = 356), transient distressing PLEs (n = 408) and low-level PLEs (n = 7,901). Persistent distressing PLEs showed greater decreases (that is, more negative slopes) of cognition and morphometry metrics over time compared with those in low-level PLEs groups. Analyses also provided evidence for extant theories that worsening cognition and global morphometry metrics may partially account for associations between environmental risk with persistent distressing PLEs.