CHILDHOOD BEHAVIORAL-CHARACTERISTICS AND ADULT BRAIN MORPHOLOGY IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

It is well established that many schizophrenia patients manifest behav ioral dysfunction long before the onset of clinical symptoms of illnes s. Some show signs of motor and socioemotional deficit as early as inf ancy. The present study examines the relations among childhood neuromo tor, affective and behavior characteristics, and the association of th ese factors with adult brain morphology (MRI) in schizophrenia patient s. Data on neuromotor functions and negative affect were obtained from coding of childhood films. Parents of patients provided information a bout six dimensions of childhood behavior problems. Analyses of data f rom patients and healthy siblings revealed that childhood neuromotor a bnormalities and negative affect were associated with some of the beha vioral dimensions. Among the patients, early childhood neuromotor defi cits and negative affect were linked with greater ventricular enlargem ent in adulthood. The ratings of the behavior problem dimensions showe d a complex relation with adult brain morphology, suggesting that exte rnalized problems are linked with more abnormalities (smaller brain vo lume and larger ventricles), whereas internalized problems are associa ted with less abnormality. The findings are discussed in light of thei r implications for the developmental origins of brain abnormalities in schizophrenia.