Assessment of adolescents at risk for psychosis

Abstract

Early intervention in schizophrenia is an emerging goal of research investigating the earliest phases of the illness, which occur predominantly in adolescence and young adulthood. In order to develop strategies for early intervention, individuals at highest risk for the development of psychosis must be accurately identified. Here we briefly review the historical approaches to the assessment of risk for schizophrenia and highlight the more recently developed interview-based methods for the assessment of incipient psychosis, with particular attention paid to their applicability in adolescence. We present a prototypical assessment battery that includes an integration of historical assessment approaches to form a comprehensive assessment of threshold and subthreshold psychopathology, and other assessment procedures targeted specifically at adolescents. This battery may assist in unraveling the complex presentation of prodromal symptoms during the adolescent developmental period.