Neighborhood ethnoracial diversity and positive psychotic symptoms among youth at high-risk and healthy comparisons

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Neighborhood ethnoracial composition has been associated with schizophrenia, but mechanisms are unclear. This study investigates the moderators and mediators of the association between neighborhood ethnoracial diversity and positive symptoms among youth at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR-P) and healthy comparisons (HC). Data were collected as part of The North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study and included 492 youth at CHR-P and 136 HCs. Neighborhood ethnoracial diversity measures the probability that two people chosen at random will be from different ethnoracial groups. Attenuated positive symptoms were derived from the Scale of Prodromal Symptoms. Peer victimization and discriminatory experiences were constructed as latent variables. Using structural equation modeling, this study tested the relationship of these variables and included the following covariates: age, sex, neighborhood poverty, and depressive symptoms. Greater neighborhood ethnoracial diversity was associated with reduced positive symptoms among ethnoracial minorities at CHR-P (β=-3.78; 95 % CI [-6.61, -0.84]). Fewer life events of peer victimization (β=-0.13; 95 % CI [-0.24, -0.03]) leading to perceived ethnoracial discrimination (β=0.56; 95 % CI [0.45, 0.67]) mediated 15.06 % of this association. These findings deepen our understanding of the social determinants of psychosis and may help develop effective interventions to prevent psychosis, especially among ethnoracial minority youth at high risk.