The New York high-risk project: social and general intelligence in children at risk for schizophrenia

Abstract

Social deficits, as well as low performance on intelligence tests, are known early symptoms of schizophrenia. We studied whether impairment of social intelligence can be detected before the outbreak of the disorder. In the New York High-Risk Project, children at risk for schizophrenia (HRSz) or affective disorder (HRAff) and a normal control group (NC) were studied over the past 26 years. The children are now in mid-adulthood, with known psychiatric outcomes. Developmental and clinical data from childhood can now be related to adulthood diagnoses. We compared mean WISC (or WISC-R) and WAIS (or WAIS-R) scores from childhood and adolescence, and change of IQ, between the risk groups, as well as between the adulthood outcomes. We were specifically interested in the development of social intelligence (the Picture Arrangement and Comprehension subtests). We used logistic regression analyses to generate a model predicting adulthood schizophrenia. Results: IQ at age 9,7 was lower in children with HRSz than with HRAff. Adulthood schizophrenia, compared with major depressive disorder and no psychiatric diagnosis could not be related conclusively to low IQ. This may be a result of the study design, since children with IQ below 70 or behavioral problems were not eligible as study subjects. There was no evidence of lower scores or more decline in social intelligence related to age or group membership (risk or outcome). Subtest-Scatter, a nondirectional measure of the differences between all subtests and Vocabulary, reflecting a lesser difference between crystallized and fluid intelligence, was identified as a significant predictor of adulthood schizophrenia, in the whole group as well as in the HRSz group alone.