title: Comparison between young siblings and offspring of subjects with schizophrenia: clinical and neuropsychological characteristics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  High rates of psychopathology and worse performance in cognitive areas have been described in high risk (HR) first degree relatives of subjects with schizophrenia. The present study aimed to examine clinical and neuropsychological characteristics in two different groups of first degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia - one of siblings (HRs), and one of offspring (HRo) - and compare them with healthy controls (HC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 30 HRo, 26 HRs and 33 HC, all aged between 7 and 16 years. Clinical and neuropsychological assessments were completed by all participants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences were observed between HR groups in DSM-IV diagnoses. The most prevalent diagnosis in both HR samples was attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) followed by oppositional defiant disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. Both HR groups obtained worse scores than HC on prodromal symptoms, premorbid adjustment and behavioral problem scales. In cognitive areas, HRo performed worse than HC on most WISC-IV index scores, logical memory, visual memory and perceptual organization, whereas HRs only performed worse in WISC-IV indexes, logical memory and perceptual organization. Most of these differences remained stable after controlling for ADHD. The comparison between HRo and HRs showed significant differences in prodromal symptoms and working memory after controlling for ADHD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Similar abnormalities in HRo and HRs were found in relation to clinical and neuropsychological variables. Subtle differences were found between HR groups with HRo showing difficulties in more clinical and neuropsychological areas than HRs and HC. This suggests that, the specific kind of family relationship should to be taken into account in future HR research.
authors: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Spain. eserna@clinic.ub.es
authors: Elena
authors: E
authors: de la Serna
authors: Inmaculada
authors: I
authors: Baeza
authors: Susana
authors: S
authors: Andrés
authors: Olga
authors: O
authors: Puig
authors: Vanessa
authors: V
authors: Sánchez-Guistau
authors: Soledad
authors: S
authors: Romero
authors: Miguel
authors: M
authors: Bernardo
authors: Dolores
authors: D
authors: Moreno
authors: Ana
authors: A
authors: Noguera
authors: Josefina
authors: J
authors: Castro-Fornieles
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000150:complications; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D035781:Siblings / Q000523:psychology*