SEX-DIFFERENCES IN VERBAL IQ PERFORMANCE IQ DISCREPANCIES AMONG PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA AND NORMAL VOLUNTEERS

Substantial verbal IQ (VIQ)-performance IQ (PIQ) discrepancies may ref lect brain dysfunction. The authors examined 159 patients with schizop hrenia (115 men and 44 women) or schizoaffective disorder (25 men and 19 women) and 79 normal participants (33 men and 46 women), calculated mean VIQ-PIQ discrepancy scores by sex and diagnosis, and identified persons with large VIQ-PIQ discrepancies (15-point difference in eithe r direction). Schizphrenic/schizoaffective men had a larger mean VIQ-P IQ discrepancy than did other groups. The proportion of all patients w ith either VIQ > PIQ or PIQ > VIQ (17.8%) was not significantly differ ent from that of normal participants (22.8%). However, significantly m ore men than women with schizophrenia exhibited a VIQ > PIQ pattern (2 0% vs. 3.2%). No unusual discrepancy patterns were noted among normal participants. Results were interpreted in light of theories of hemisph ere dysfunction in schizophrenia.