title: Thought disorder in mid-childhood as a predictor of adulthood diagnostic outcome: findings from the New York High-Risk Project.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Thought disorder has been proposed as an indicator of schizotypy, which is considered to be necessary but not sufficient for the development of schizophrenia. It is unclear whether thought disorder is an indicator of susceptibility (i.e. an endophenotype) for schizophrenia. The goal of the present study was to elucidate the role of thought disorder in relation to schizotypy by examining its presence in high-risk individuals during mid-childhood. Method The sample consisted of 265 subjects drawn from the New York High-Risk Project. Individuals at high risk for schizophrenia (i.e. offspring of parents with schizophrenia) were compared with individuals at low risk for schizophrenia (i.e. offspring of parents with affective disorder or offspring of psychiatrically normal parents). Videotaped interviews were rated for thought disorder using the Scale for the Assessment of Thought, Language, and Communication (TLC). The same subjects were administered diagnostic interviews in late adolescence/early adulthood.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although positive thought disorder was equally present in subjects with affective and non-affective psychoses, negative thought disorder (namely, poverty of speech and poverty of content of speech) was elevated only in subjects with schizophrenia-related psychosis. Logistic regression analyses revealed that negative thought disorder added to the prediction of schizophrenia-related psychosis outcomes over and above positive thought disorder.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that negative thought disorder may have a specific association with schizotypy, rather than a more general association with psychosis. The findings also support consideration of negative thought disorder as an endophenotypic indicator of a schizophrenia diathesis.
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA. dgooding@wisc.edu
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Gooding
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Ott
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Erlenmeyer-Kimling
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D058068:Endophenotypes; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D013850:Thinking; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D055815:Young Adult