2161 – The quite early detection of schizophrenic children

Abstract

The subclinical behavioral and psychological characteristics of schizophrenic children have not been sufficiently investigated to present specific evidences .To elucidate the picture of them, and to find out indicators which predict later development of schizophrenia, childhood behaviors of the adult schizophrenia subjects were investigated in a questionnairebased retrospective study. Schizophrenia outpatients (n = 50) in his/her twenties and normal healthy subjects (n = 200) were investigated. All patients are diagnosed according to DSM-IV-TR as schizophrenia, and who present now mainly negative symptoms after passing an acute stage. By modified use of the CBCL (Child Behavior Checklist) as a retrospective assessment questionnaire, the parents of the patients and of control subjects rated their childhood behavior. Among eight syndrome scales of the CBCL, those of “Withdrawan”, “Anxious/Depressed”, “Social problems” and “Attention problems” were significantly associated with schizophrenia, although any of these scores were not in clinical range. The hit-rate when classifying the schizophrenic and normal subjects by discriminant function using all items of CBCL totaled 94%. The results suggested that subclinical characteristics of schizophrenia already exist in the patients’ childhood. With some assessment tool using the obtained discriminat function, the quite early detection of schizophrenic children seems possible.