No study has yet reported specifically on the early behavior of indivi
duals later diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), Thi
s study examines prospectively collected teacher reports on school beh
avior as a means of assessing childhood precursors of SPD. Thirty-six
DSM-III-R diagnosed schizotypal subjects were compared with four other
groups: 31 schizophrenia patients, 37 diagnosed as nonpsychotic menta
lly ill, 68 who were not mentally ill but had mothers with schizophren
ia, and 60 who were not mentally ill and had normal parents, These ind
ividuals were compared on a teachers' school report questionnaire obta
ined when the subjects averaged 15.1 years old, Those who later develo
ped SPD were found to be more passive and unengaged and more hypersens
itive to criticisms compared with the nonschizophrenia groups, Similar
results were found when males and females were examined separately, e
xcept that males who developed SPD were found to be less disruptive an
d hyperexcitable compared with males with schizophrenia; females with
SPD did not differ from females with schizophrenia, A receiver operati
ng characteristic analysis found these factors to predict 73.5 percent
of future SPDs; the ability of these factors to predict future SPDs i
s comparable for males and females, These findings suggest that presch
izotypal traits may be identified in late childhood or adolescence.