SPECIAL FEATURE - CHILDHOOD PERSONALITY-CHARACTERISTICS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA - MANIFESTATIONS OF, OR RISK-FACTORS FOR, THE DISORDER

Many retrospective stuies, and an increasing number of prospective stu dies, have identified subtle abnormalities in preschizophrenics from a s early as the first year of life. Premorbid characteristics include d evelopmental delays. cognitive deficits. and abnormal social interacti ons. Schizoid personality traits have been a particularly well documen ted finding, and show some specificity in their association with schiz ophrenia. Information about the premorbid characteristics of schizophr enia has played a major role in the reorientation of the field, from r egarding schizophrenia as an adult onset degenerative disorder, to con sidering it, at least in part, as a neurodevelopmental condition, Howe ver, whether the childhood personality traits are a reflection of an u nderlying brain lesion, or whether they are independent risk factors f or the disorder, is uncertain. In the future, the identification of ch ildhood characteristics may enable us to predict those mho are at high risk of developing schizophrenia, and may even be useful in formulati ng preventive policies. However, at present, the powers of prediction are inadequate for such purposes.