COVERT VISUAL-ATTENTION IN PATIENTS WITH EARLY-ONSET SCHIZOPHRENIA

The aim of the present study is to examine attentional costs (inhibiti on) in covert visual attention in a group of acutely ill adolescents w ith schizophrenia without long histories of neuroleptic treatment. Var iations in reaction time were analyzed for possible age and sex differ ences. Adolescents with schizophrenia (n = 19) were compared to a grou p of ADHD subjects (n=20) and a group of normally functioning adolesce nts (n=30) on a measure of covert visual attention. The results suppor t a hypothesis of abnormally rapid disengagement (reduced costs) in ma le adolescents with schizophrenia. Such an abnormality has also been f ound in adults with chronic schizophrenia. Whether this holds true for both sexes of adolescents with schizophrenia or is restricted to male subjects cannot be answered with certainty due to the small number of females with schizophrenia in our sample. Our findings indicate, howe ver, that there are some general sex differences and some specific sex differences related to covert visual attention in adolescents with sc hizophrenia. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.