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Omega-3 Eases Schizotypal Personality Disorder Symptoms in Children
Omega-3 supplementation, both in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and alone, decreased symptoms of schizotypal personality disorder in children, according to study results published in Schizophrenia Bulletin.
“Results are unique in the field and suggest that omega-3 can help reduce schizotypal personality in community-residing children,” wrote corresponding author Adrian Raine, DPhil, of the departments of criminology, psychiatry, and psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and coauthors.
Researchers hypothesized that omega-3 could reduce schizotypy based on previous findings of reduced schizotypal personality disorder at age 23 in people who underwent an intervention that included added fish consumption when they were between 3- and 5-years-old. The present study tested that hypothesis.
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The intention-to-treat, single-blind study included a community sample of 290 children, aged 11 and 12 years, who met criteria for conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder or had high aggression scores on a standardized test.
Participants were randomized to 3 months of daily omega-3 alone, CBT alone, omega-3 combined with CBT, and control groups. Researchers used the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire for Children to assess for schizotypy at baseline, the end of treatment, 3 months after treatment, and 9 months after treatment.
A significant group × time interaction showed total schizotypy scores were reduced in both the omega-3-alone and omega-3-plus-CBT groups, compared with controls, immediately after treatment as well as 3 months after treatment ended, according to the study. Immediately after treatment, total schizotypy decreased by 28.0% in the omega-3-alone group and 21.3% in the omega-3-plus-CBT group, according to Psychiatric News coverage of the study. Three months after treatment, total schizotypy was down 25.7% in the omega-3-alone group and 36.6% in the omega-3-plus-CBT group.
“Stronger findings were observed for the interpersonal schizotypy factor, with both omega-3 groups showing reductions 9 months post-treatment compared with the CBT only group,” researchers wrote.
Children with a higher dietary intake of omega-3 at baseline experienced significantly stronger schizotypy reductions, the study found.
“From an epidemiological standpoint, if replicated and extended, these findings could have implications for early prevention of more significant schizotypal features developing later in adolescence,” researchers advised.
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