Clinical Study of Childhood Schizophrenia

Abstract

Nineteen schizophrenic children who met the diagnostic criteria of DSM- III were investigated. They were less than 15 years old at the onset of their disease. Comparing the clinical features and Rorschach test results of the childhood schizophrenia group (group C) with those of the adult schizophrenia group (group A), the following characteristics of child schizophrenia were noted. In terms of clinical features: (1) More first-born patients were observed. (2) More prodromal symptoms and latent-onset types were found. (3) Some of the patients had visual hallucinations. (4) The contents of the auditory hallucinations were less clearly described, and the duration was more transitional. (5) Few patients had systematized delusions. (6) Labile mood was commonly observed. (7) Most of the patients had obsessive compulsive symptoms/signs. The Rorschach test results showed a lower value in deviant verbalization, and more real descriptions were found. The results correlated with the clinical symptoms/signs. I then classified the patients with childhood schizophrenia according to the main clinical symptoms/signs after the onset of schizophrenia. They comprised two groups: the fiat (F) group and the unstable (U) group. The main clinical symptoms of group F were gradual changes in character, abulia, and autism. In contrast, those of group U were hallucination and delusions. According to the Rorschach test results, the patients of group F had poor psychic energies and flat emotions. In contrast, the patients of group U did not have debilitated psychic energies, lessened volition, or decreased mental acuity. They did have a poor ability to understand reality and poor control of affect. These Rorschach results confirm the clinical features of groups F and U.