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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffSchizoaffective disorder is thought to be a neurodevelopmental disorder — which involves delays or variations in the way a child's brain develops — like in schizophrenia. Genetics plays a role in development of the disorder, and people with relatives who have schizoaffective disorder are more likely to develop this condition. Environmental factors also may be involved.
Older people are more likely to have the depressive-type schizoaffective disorder, while younger people tend toward the bipolar type.
Factors that increase the risk of developing the schizoaffective disorder include:
- Having a relative who has schizophrenia
- Having a relative who has a mood disorder
- Having a relative who has schizoaffective disorder
- Being at risk of developing schizophrenia
- 1. Schizoaffective disorder. National Alliance on Mental Illness. http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=54&ContentID=23043. Accessed Oct. 22, 2008.
- 2. Schizoaffective disorder. Merck Manuals Online Medical Library: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals.
http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec15/ch202/ch202d.html. Accessed Oct. 22, 2008. - 3. Schizoaffective disorder. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2000.
- 4. Schizoaffective disorder. In: Sadock BJ, et al. Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2005:1533.
