The relation between premorbid competence and paranoid-nonparanoid status in schizophrenia: A methodological and theoretical critique.

This stujly examined paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenic performance on a battery of information processing measures spanning precategorical processing, short-tei|m memory, and long-term memory. Multivariate analyses of the multiple processing indexes revealed two performance dimensions. The first represented "processing efficiency" maximally separating the paranoids and nonpatients, with the nonparanoids falling in between. The second dimension reflected a response style of "propensity toward stating the presence of stimuli or stimulus properties," with the most extreme separation occurring between the paranoids (higher propensity) and nonparanoids. Though closer to the paranoids, the nonpatients fell between the two schizophrenic groups. Discussion draws on the bidimensional characterization of the paranoids and nonparanoids, as well as on their differential performance on individual measures.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multivariate cognitive performance levels and response styles among paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics.

Broga¹,

Neufeld²

1981

“…This view has received some empirical support (Huber, Gross, & SchUttler, 1975;Krupinski & Stoller, 1975) and is also consistent with developmental hypotheses. That is, paranoid schizophrenia would be expected to occur at a later age, since paranoid patients are characterized by a higher developmental level than nonparanoid patients (Eysenck, 1961;Freud, reviewed in Swanson et al, 1970;Swanson et al, 1970;Zigler et al, 1976Zigler et al, , 1977. However, several studies (reviewed by Zigler et al, 1976) have failed to confirm this diagnostic status-developmental level relation.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…That is, paranoid schizophrenia would be expected to occur at a later age, since paranoid patients are characterized by a higher developmental level than nonparanoid patients (Eysenck, 1961;Freud, reviewed in Swanson et al, 1970;Swanson et al, 1970;Zigler et al, 1976Zigler et al, , 1977. However, several studies (reviewed by Zigler et al, 1976) have failed to confirm this diagnostic status-developmental level relation. Furthermore, European psychiatrists (see Swanson et al, 1970, p. 28) and others (Kay, Cooper, Garside, & Roth, 1976) appear to question whether any difference in age of onset would be found between paranoid and other schizophrenic diagnoses.…”

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confidence: 99%

Age on first hospitalization of schizophrenics: A developmental approach.

Zigler¹,

Levine²

1981

Self Cite

Ages of first hospitalization were compared among 64 (VA) Veterans Administration hospital male, 60 state hospital male, and 60 state hospital female schizophrenic patients. Those who were diagnosed as paranoid were found to be approximately 8 years older than the nonparanoid patients on age of first admission. In both diagnostic categories men were hospitalized about 5 years earlier than women. An analysis of the relation between work status and diagnosis for the female groups revealed that working women with a diagnosis of paranoid were hospitalized approximately 10 years later than the paranoid women who remained at home and the nonparanoid women of either employment status. State hospital males were younger on first admission than VA hospital males. The ages of the two diagnostic groups in the VA were comparable, whereas in the state hospital the nonparanoid group was younger than the paranoid group by about 8 years. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed, particularly in terms of the role of the individual's developmental level in premorbid functioning, diagnosis, and course of psychiatric illness. The need to pay greater attention to the differences between schizophrenic males and females and to scrutinize more closely differences between state and VA hospital patients is emphasized.

“…Premorbid development occupies an important place in the study of etiology, symptoms, and outcome of serious psychiatric disorders (Garmezy, 1970;Phillips, 1968;Zigler, Levine, & Zigler, 1976. Perhaps because of its tremendous psychological and financial costs, schizophrenia has been given special emphasis in the search for developmental precursors to overt psychiatric breakdown (Garmezy, 1974;Garmezy & Streitman, 1974).…”

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confidence: 99%

Childhood social competence in functionally disordered psychiatric patients and in normals.

Lewine¹,

Watt²,

Prentky³

et al. 1980

Childhood social competence in schizophrenics, personality disordered patients, psychotic depressives, neurotics, and normals was assessed. The results indicate that children eventually hospitalized for schizophrenia are characterized by their poor interpersonal skills long before symptom onset; academic competence failed to differentiate the various groups. Not all serious psychiatric disorder is preceded by poor social competence, as indicated by the psychotic depressives whose competence scores were not significantly different from the normals'. Analysis of sex and Sex x Diagnosis effects revealed that females were more competent than males regardless of psychiatric status. This may reflect primarily greater conformity to teacher expectations for appropriate school behavior. The absence of significant interaction effects suggests that previously reported sex differences in premorbid social competence are not specific to schizophrenic disorders.