The classification of childhood psychoses by numerical taxonomy.

Abstract

Summary A form of numerical taxonomy was used to classify a group of 162 psychotic children on the basis of case history data supplied by the parents on the Rimland diagnostic checklist. The subjects were grouped into two classes. Class 1 included children with early onset of the psychosis who showed numerous withdrawal and aloneness symptoms and impaired communication; Class 2 included subjects with later onset whose symptoms were more heterogeneous and scattered than those in Class 1. The two classes differed significantly on 29 of the 67 attributes on which they were measured. The findings are interpreted as supporting a system of classification in childhood psychosis in terms of age of onset.