Daily-life peer interactions among adolescents at familial high-risk for psychosis: An ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study

Psychosis risk is associated with impaired social functioning among young people. However, with whom and in what ways social relationships suffer among high-risk youth is not clearly understood. This study evaluated differences in the odds of engaging in peer interactions, as well as emotional experience during peer interactions, between adolescents at familial high-risk for psychosis (FHR) and low-risk peers. Participants included 19 FHR youth and 24 low-risk controls (ages 13-19). Frequency of peer interactions, as well as negative and positive emotional experience during peer interactions were assessed in daily-life using ecological momentary assessment (EMA; n=3190 observations). Multilevel models demonstrated that relative to controls, FHR youth reported lower positive emotion during everyday peer interactions. No group differences were observed in odds of peer interactions or negative emotion during peer interactions. Findings indicate that associations positive emotion during peer interactions may be altered in FHR adolescents, with implications for transdiagnostic risk.