Focusing on modifiable early protective factors to prevent negative neurodevelopmental and psychiatric outcomes in at-risk infants

There is increasing awareness of the relevance of the first years of life as a basis for health and disease. From this perspective, families affected by psychiatric illness represent a peculiar ecological niche in which the intergenerational transmission of severe mental disorders is boosted by the hyper-aggregation of genetic plus early and late environmental risk factors. Inadequate parenting related to serious mental illness is implicated in increased rates of insecure or disorganized attachment patterns, which, combined with an underlying neurobiological vulnerability, may further exacerbate the lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia. However, parenting is a modifiable variable, and its early protective factor has been demonstrated.