Childhood emotional expressions, educational attainment, and age at onset of illness in schizophrenia.

Abstract

This study examined the relation between preschizophrenic subjects' facial expressions of emotion in childhood home movies and two criterion variables: educational level (highest grade completed) and age at onset of illness. Earlier research suggest that premorbid affective blunting is associated with an earlier onset of illness and poorer prognosis in schizophrenia. It was, therefore, predicted that lower rates of both positive and negative facial expressions would be associated with lower levels of educational attainment and earlier age at onset of illness. The results indicated that childhood emotional expressions were not associated with educational level but were linked with age at onset. Preschizophrenic subjects who showed lower rates of negative emotion during late childhood/adolescence were younger at illness onset. Findings are discussed in light of previous reports linking affective symptoms with better prognosis in schizophrenia.

Cognitive heterogeneity in first-episode schizophrenia

“…It is also possible that their low IQ contributed to an earlier age at onset, as concluded by previous investigators (e.g. Erlenmeyer-Kimling & Cornblatt, 1987; Grimes & Walker, 1994). The finding of a significant positive association between premorbid IQ and age at onset for all patients, even when those with low IQ were removed from the analysis, favours the latter explanation.…”

Schizophrenia as a Disorder of Developmentally Reduced Synaptic Connectivity

“…[112][113][114][115] The mild dysfunctions associated with these early neurobiological lesions occasionally emerge in childhood and early adolescence as vulnerability factors or risk markers of psychosis. They include diminished expression of positive and negative emotions, 116 passivity, social maladjustments, anxiety, withdrawal, and poor peer relationships. [90][91][92][117][118][119][120] Neuromotor abnormalities in the form of poor coordination, poor perceptualmotor integration, or abnormal speech are seen, 90,91,[121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128] as well as minor physical anomalies, 129,130 neurocognitive deficits, 92,131 poor attention and concentration, 90,91,132 and lower IQ and poor educational achievements.…”

The developmental pathways to schizophrenia: Potential moderating effects of stress

“…There is a diverse and extensive body of liter-Research on high-risk children (i.e., biologi-ature showing that the severity of premorbid cal offspring of schizophrenic parents) has re-behavioral deficits is associated with the sevealed sex differences in the nature of pre-verity of the subsequent schizophrenic illness morbid behavioral problems; when compared (for a brief review of this literature, see to same-sex controls, the preschizophrenic Grimes & Walker, 1994). Only a few studies, males manifest more "acting-out'Vdisruptive however, have addressed the specificity of the behavior and social isolation, whereas the pre-association between childhood behavioral adschizophrenia females primarily showed an justment and characteristics of the clinical increase in social isolation (John et al, 1982).…”