title: Childhood onset schizophrenia and early onset schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
abstract: The clinical severity, impact on development, and poor prognosis of childhood onset schizophrenia may represent a more homogeneous group. Positive symptoms in children are necessary for the diagnosis and hallucinations are more often multimodal. In healthy children and children with a variety of other psychiatric illnesses, hallucinations are not uncommon and diagnosis should not be based on these alone. Childhood onset schizophrenia is an extraordinarily rare illness that is poorly understood but seems continuous with the adult onset disorder. Once a diagnosis is affirmed, aggressive medication treatment combined with family education and individual counseling may defer further deterioration.
authors.affiliation: Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes Health (NIH), Building 10, Room 3N202, 10 Center Drive, MSC 1600, Bethesda, MD 20892-1600, USA.
authors.forename: David I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Driver
authors.forename: Nitin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gogtay
authors.forename: Judith L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Rapoport
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003024:Clozapine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D009315:National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.); D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D062706:Prodromal Symptoms; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003024:Clozapine
keywords: Childhood onset schizophrenia; Childhood psychosis; Schizophrenia