PERINATAL CHARACTERISTICS AND SCHIZOPHRENIA - ELECTRODERMAL ACTIVITY AS A MEDIATING LINK IN A VULNERABILITY-STRESS PERSPECTIVE

Vulnerability-stress models of schizophrenia assert that the disorder results from an interaction between genetic or biologically acquired v ulnerability and unfavourable environmental conditions. As our knowled ge of early environmental factors for schizophrenia evolves, the quest ion of links between early factors and a development of schizophrenia becomes more important. In this article, we analyse the relationship b etween obstetrical complications (OCs) and adult schizophrenia and met hodological concerns in the search for pre- and perinatal risk factors . We review findings of aberrant electrodermal activity in schizophren ic patients and suggest that OCs may induce insults to cerebral struct ures that are critically involved in the control of orienting and of a utonomic responses. (C) 1998 ISDN. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.