Abstract
Risk factors of psychotic symptoms and their causality: an overview.
Psychotic symptoms exist on a continuum in both clinical and non-clinical populations. The purpose of this review article is to provide a concise overview of the most studied risk factors ensuring a person moves along the continuum and exhibits more psychotic symptoms. A possible causal relationship is evaluated for every risk factor using the Bradford Hill criteria for causation.
This literature study could show a strong association, dose-response relationship and temporal relationship between cannabis use and psychotic symptoms on the one hand and amphetamine use and psychotic symptoms on the other. Furthermore, a few biologically plausible mechanisms could be withheld, whereby a causal relationship seems likely in both cases.
Regarding sleep problems, childhood victimization, urbanicity and demographic factors, there was sufficient scientific evidence in the literary study for this article to withhold an association with psychotic symptoms.