Childhood roots of schizophrenia.

Abstract

Earlier project reports compared childhood social behavior of nonmigratory schizophrenics and normal classmates by analyzing teachers' comments in school records. This article expands the sample to include migratory schizophrenics and analyzes childhood intellectual functioning. Behavioral differences indicated emotional immaturity and social alienation in the preschizophrenics, with sharp sex differences. Preschizophrenic boys were abrasive and antisocial, whereas prcschizophrenic girls were introverted and socially insecure. No differences were associated with migration. The preschizophrenics had normal intelligence that remained stable throughout childhood, but overall scholastic performance was somewhat poorer than average. They achieved lower IQs than matched classmates, but differences from their own siblings were not significant. Childhood intelligence was not related to length of hospitalization. Implications for prediction of schizophrenia are discussed.One of the puzzlements about schizophrenic disorder is that when it occurs the afflicted person often changes quite dramatically. Recent advances in the study of the processreactive dimension (Garmezy, 1970;Kantor & Herron, 1966;Phillips, 1968) show that these changes are temporary in many cases but that in others indications of vulnerability that are reliably related to long-term psychi-

Gender differences in aggressiveness in children and adolescents at risk for schizophrenia

“…There have been suggestions that female children who develop schizophrenia in the future would be quieter, more introverted, passive and withdrawn relative to control children, while at-risk boys would be more prone to externalizing 24 or unpleasant, negativistic, antisocial, irritable and disruptive behaviour. 36,[50][51] Conversely, other studies have reported high levels of physical anhedonia, 33 schizoid traits 9 and withdrawal 38 in boys at risk for schizophrenia relative to control male children. The latter study also reported a bimodal distribution of aggressive behavior in at-risk male children, with a greater prevalence of either absence of or extreme aggression compared to control males.…”

“…[50][51] Another limitation is the lack of standardized scales for symptom evaluation in some investigations. 36,51 Therefore, further studies are needed in order to better clarify whether aggressionrelated emotional aspects in at-risk children would indeed represent gender-specific vulnerability markers for more neurodevelopmental, early onset, poor-prognosis forms of schizophrenia.…”

“…[22][23][24][25][26][27][28] These early deficits have been interpreted as possibly reflecting brain pathogenic processes of neurodevelopmental origin that would indicate a vulnerability to the development of schizophrenia later in life. [29][30][31] Studies investigating gender differences in populations at risk for schizophrenia [32][33][34][35][36] have shown that at-risk male children may display more neurocognitive deficits before illness onset than females. Such findings have reinforced the notion that males are more susceptible to a more neurodevelopmental form of schizophrenia.…”

Existential Orientation: On the Phenomenology of Values, Attitudes, and Worldviews in Schizophrenia (Ancillary Article to EAWE Domain 6)

“…His formulation of schizophrenia as a loss of common sense suggests a more basic lack of attunement with the shared social world; thus any apparent changes in attitudes, beliefs, and related behavior result from this de-anchoring from commonsense reality. Potentially in support of this view is research suggesting that persons with schizophrenia have felt unable to interact spontaneously with peers even at a young age [21][22][23] . As a result of this gap between oneself and the social world, events and projects that elicit care or concern in others may seem to have little sway over the person with schizophrenia (EAWE 6.2.1, Attitude of indifference, insouciance, lack of concern ).…”

Prevalência do "dedo em baioneta": uma manifestação do distúrbio de hiperatividade e déficit de atenção entre alcoolistas e psicóticos do sexo masculino

“…Também algumas pessoas esquizofrênicas ou com comportamento esquizóide apresentam diferentes graus de incapacidade psicológica e social muito antes do início dos sintomas psicóticos. Estudos retrospectivos, envolvendo esquizofrênicos, têm indicado que um subgrupo destes indivíduos era socialmente incapacitado na infância 29 . Dificuldades de atenção e processamento de informações, mais pronunciadas na puberdade e na adolescência, têm sido relatadas em crianças consideradas de "alto risco" genético para desenvolverem esquizofrenia 30 .…”