SCHIZOID PERSONALITY IN CHILDHOOD - AUDITORY P300 AND EYE TRACKING RESPONSES AT FOLLOW-UP IN ADULT LIFE

The auditory P300 response and smooth pursuit eye tracking were record ed from a group of 23 male adult subjects who had been diagnosed in ch ildhood as having schizoid personality. No differences were found in t hese physiological measures between the study group, their matched con trols of other child psychiatric patients, and a group of population c ontrols. The essentially negative findings are discussed in the light of abnormalities of these psychophysiological responses previously fou nd in schizophrenic patients, in some of their biological relatives, a nd in other groups of psychiatric patients, including autistic childre n and adults with a diagnosis of borderline and schizotypal personalit y disorder. Results suggest that ''schizoid'' children, despite their high scores on a measure of schizotypy, do not have schizophrenia spec trum disorder or that schizotypy is a heterogeneous condition.