The predictive value of electrodermal activity and social network was examined among 48 consecutively admitted schizophrenic patients. The patients were followed from an initial admission, through hospital stay, discharge, follow-up (M = 31 months), and possible relapse. Outcome variables were the length of stay in the hospital at the key episode and time to relapse, defined as a marked exacerbation or return of schizophrenic symptoms requiring inpatient or expansion of outpatient treatment. Multivariate analyses showed that a psychosocial variable, the availability of attachment, was the only independent predictor of length of stay in the hospital. Age at admission was a strong predictor of time to relapse. Age interacted with both outcome and electrodermal activity, and young electrodermal nonresponders were found to have the shortest time to relapse. At the 1-year follow-up, a main relapse effect was found for patients with a low skin conductance level.

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SummaryThe aim of the present case study was to examine electrodermal orienting response during periods of acute illness and during remission in a male schizophrenic patient. He was exposed five times to a series of moderately intense tones in a standard orienting habituation paradigm, while skin conductance was recorded. He failed to respond to any of the first two tones and was considered a nonresponder both times when he was acutely symptomatically ill. In contrast, he responded to some of the first tones when he was under treatment and both times when he was tested in remission.