A new study from researchers at Duke University and King's College London says that living in neighbourhoods with high crime rates and low social cohesion can cause psychotic symptoms among urban children. The study, published in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin, cites that children in urban areas are 7.4 percent more likely to suffer from at least one of the symptoms by age 12, compared to 4.4 percent chances of those residing in non-urban locations.
The symptoms include hearing or seeing things that others people do not experience, paranoid thoughts, and believing people can read other minds. According to Duke University’s Associate Professor of psychology and public policy Candice Odgers, the findings can help identify which neighbourhoods can cause mental health problems.
They found that children in urban areas are two times more likely to suffer from psychotic symptoms than children in non-urban areas. The researchers assert that experiencing psychotic symptoms do not necessarily mean that a person will suffer from mental health disorders in the future. In other words, children grow out of these symptoms.
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Source material from Australian Network News