CHILDREN WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA - DIAGNOSIS, PHENOMENOLOGY, AND PHARMACOTHERAPY

This article presents data on the diagnosis and phenomenology of schiz ophrenia in 16 hospitalized children, ages 5.5 to 11.75 years. These 1 6 subjects are the first to complete an ongoing double-blind, placebo- controlled study of haloperidol in children with schizophrenia diagnos ed by DSM-III-R criteria. We describe the pharmacologic treatment resp onse of this subsample and compare our diagnostic, phenomenologic, and treatment findings with those of other investigators. Our results sho w that children under age 12 can be diagnosed with schizophrenia by th e same criteria used for adults, that they show comparable clinical sy mptoms, and that on haloperidol they show improvement in target psycho tic symptoms, at least in a short-term inpatient setting.