Development from birth to adolescence of children at-risk for schizophrenia.
OBJECTIVE
Offspring of patients with schizophrenia are at-risk for developing schizophrenia in adult life. The aim of this paper is to describe the development from infancy through adolescence of a sample of Israeli young people at-risk for schizophrenia.


METHODS
The Jerusalem Infant Development Study (JIDS) has followed prospectively from birth through adolescence 15 young people who have a parent with schizophrenia. Neurobehavioral data were gathered at infancy, middle childhood, and adolescence. Mental disorder was assessed at adolescence.


RESULTS
Data suggest that some children whose parents have schizophrenia are at increased risk for a variety of neuromotor, cognitive, and attentional problems during infancy and childhood, compared to children whose parents had no mental disorder or nonschizophrenia mental disorder. Those high-risk children with neurobehavioral signs are also more likely to have poorer social adjustment, greater social withdrawal, and more symptoms within the schizophrenia spectrum. Case studies are presented of two children with early neurobehavioral impairment who, as adolescents, developed disorders within the schizophrenia spectrum.


CONCLUSIONS
Because neurobehavioral impairment may be marking genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia spectrum disorders, clinicians treating children whose parents have schizophrenia need to thoroughly evaluate symptoms of mental disorder--but also neuromotor and neuropsychological functioning.
Hans
Sydney L
SL
School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, IL 60637, USA. shans@uchicago.edu
Auerbach
Judith G
JG
Auerbach
Aaron G
AG
Marcus
Joseph
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D001519:Behavior; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012306:Risk; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior