Nonpsychotic Relatives Research Articles

Neuropsychological functioning among the elderly nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenic patients

In our prior work with a young sample (age <60), we showed that three neuropsychological functions were impaired among relatives of schizophrenic patients: abstraction, verbal memory, and auditory attention. In the present work we show that these results do not generalize to an older sample aged 60 years and greater. Thus, although we and others have put forth measures of neuropsychological function as indicators of the schizophrenia genotype, the present study suggests that conclusions may be limited to non-elderly samples. Further work is needed to address this issue definitively.

Neuropsychological functioning among the nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenic patients: A diagnostic efficiency analysis.

Numerous studies suggest that the relatives of schizophrenic patients exhibit neuropsychological impairments that are milder yet similar to those seen among schizophrenic patients. The authors assessed 35 nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenic patients and 72 normal controls using a clinical and experimental neuropsychological test battery. Three neuropsychological functions met criteria for risk indicators of the schizophrenia genotype: abstraction, verbal memory, and auditory attention. These findings could not be attributed to parental socioeconomic status, education, general visual-spatial ability, or psychopathology. Furthermore, exploratory analyses were performed to determine whether the diagnostic efficiency of the indicators could be adjusted to meet the needs of genetic linkage analyses. These analyses suggest that psychometric considerations may help to create measures for genetic linkage studies.

A comparison of non-psychotic relatives of familial and nonfamilial schizophrenics

A comparison of non-psychotic relatives of familial and nonfamilial schizophrenics

Performance of nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenic patients on cognitive tests

We tested 54 nonpsychotic first degree relatives of 23 schizophrenic probands and 18 control subjects matched for age and education on several neuropsychological tests. The tests were selected to assess overall intellectual ability or because previous work indicated that they are particularly sensitive measures of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenic patients. The relatives of schizophrenic patients performed significantly worse than the control subjects on tests of verbal fluency and on Trailmaking, part B. Each of these tests contributed unique variance to the discrimination between groups. The groups did not differ significantly on the number of perserverative errors on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised block design or vocabulary, or Trailmaking, part A. Eight relatives who met DSM-III-R criteria for schizotypal personality disorder were more impaired than the remaining 46 relatives on letter fluency, but otherwise their performance was similar to that of nonschizotypal relatives. These data suggest that close relatives of schizophrenic patients may have subtle neuropsychological impairments that are not necessarily associated with clinical symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Personality disorders among the relatives of schizophrenia patients.

In light of current linkage studies in schizophrenia, research on the "schizophrenia spectrum" deserves increased attention for an exact determination of the affected phenotype: Those disorders that have a much higher prevalence among biological relatives of schizophrenia patients are supposed to share common etiological factors with "core" schizophrenia. However, there is controversy over which of the DSM-III-R personality disorders should be included in the spectrum. In a controlled family study of inpatients with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of schizophrenia (n = 101), schizophreniform and schizoaffective disorders (n = 69), and unipolar major depression (n = 160), familial rates of personality disorders were assessed through personal interviews and compared with prevalence rates in 109 control families from the community. As predicted, schizotypal personality disorder occurred more frequently in the nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenia probands (2.1%) than in the families of unscreened controls (0.3%). Paranoid personality disorder was more frequent in relatives of probands with unipolar depression (2.9%) than in relatives of schizophrenia patients (1.7%), and controls revealed the lowest rate (0.9%). Schizoid personality disorder, however, was extremely rare in all sample groups (between 0.3% and 0.7%), providing no sufficient statistical power for detection of group differences. Further analysis of the DSM-III-R criterion symptoms of schizotypal personality disorder demonstrated that items describing "negative" symptomatology are the main source of familial aggregation, but "psychotic-like" personality features are also contributing factors.

Are males more likely than females to develop schizophrenia?

This study was undertaken to determine whether the incidence of schizophrenia is equivalent for males and females. An attempt was made to identify every first-episode case of psychosis in a large Canadian city over a period of 2 1/2 years. A comprehensive referral network was established that included hospital and community settings where psychotic persons might appear. More than 300 potential subjects were identified, 175 of whom underwent a structured psychiatric interview and were assigned diagnoses according to five different diagnostic systems. The incidence of schizophrenia was two to three times higher among males than among females. Even though the use of different diagnostic systems yielded slightly different risk rates, the elevated risk for males remained consistent. There were no differences between the sexes in the incidence of affective psychosis. In comparison with schizophrenia, the incidence rates for mood disorders with psychotic features were sometimes lower and sometimes higher, depending on the diagnostic system used. The findings, coupled with reports in the past 10 years from other investigators, challenge the conventional belief that the incidence of schizophrenia is the same for the two sexes.

Frontal deficits and good eye tracking in the nonpsychotic relatives of kraepelinian schizophrenics : Richard S.E. Keefe, Jeremy M. Silverman, Sonia E. Lees, Jackie M. Moskowitz, Richard C. Mohs, Larry J. Siever, Kenneth L. Davis Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029

Frontal deficits and good eye tracking in the nonpsychotic relatives of kraepelinian schizophrenics : Richard S.E. Keefe, Jeremy M. Silverman, Sonia E. Lees, Jackie M. Moskowitz, Richard C. Mohs, Larry J. Siever, Kenneth L. Davis Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029

Distinguishing Between Content and Form of Speech-Reply

<h3>In Reply.—</h3> Dr Berenbaum cites a difference between our study¹and his.²We are not the first to find an aggregation of thought disorder in the relatives of psychotic patients.^3-6We believe that at least three requirements should be met if one seeks to determine whether thought disorder is present in clinically normal members of families in which there is a psychotic patient. First, evaluating personnel must be well trained and experienced with the instrument in use. Second, the instrument used must be able to detect not only severe instances of thought disorder, present in psychotic populations, but also mild instances of thought slippage, since thought disorder in nonpsychotic relatives tends to be muted. Third, categories of formal thought disorder that occur infrequently in the normal population, but frequently in pathological populations, must be determined. These disorders may occur in relatives of psychotic patients. The study by Berenbaum et al

Diagnostic Approaches to Schizotypal Personality Disorder: A Historical Perspective

The goal of this article is to provide a historical perspective on the DSM-III concept of schizotypal personality disorder. It is argued that two major traditions have influenced our conceptualization of this diagnostic entity. The first or familial approach emphasizes the characteristic traits found in the deviant but nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenics. The second or clinical approach focuses on patients who appear to demonstrate the fundamental symptoms of schizophrenia without psychotic symptoms or severe personality deterioration. A review of these two traditions concludes that while similar in some regards, they also differ in important ways in their views on the characteristics of the true "schizotype." The impact of these two traditions is then traced through the Danish Adoption Studies of Kety et al. to the development of the DSM-III criteria for schizotypal personality by Spitzer, Endicott, and Gibbon. Finally, the article reviews recent studies on the validity of specific criteria for schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) and reassesses the conceptual issue about the nature of the relationship of SPD to schizophrenia on the one hand and to other personality disorders on the other.

The Odyssean personality. A survival advantage for carriers of genes predisposing to schizophrenia?

To explain the persistence of schizophrenia in human populations at relatively high and constant rates, it is proposed that the schizoid-paranoid personality (designated as the Odyssean personality) which characterizes so many nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenics, represents a selective advantage. It is assumed that odyssean relatives carry the gene or genes predisposing to schizophrenia, but not in sufficient quantity for the development of the psychosis. It is suggested that because of their schizoid-paranoid out-look, Odysseans have an increased probability of contributing to the gene pool of succeeding generations since, in a world plagued by terror, strife, and war, they, rather than their trusting peers, are the ones more likely to survive long enough to ensure the survival of their progeny.