Neurobehavioral deficits at adolescence in children at risk for schizophrenia - The Jerusalem Infant Development Study

Background: The Jerusalem Infant Development Study is a prospective investi gation comparing offspring of schizophrenic parents with offspring of paren ts who have no mental disorder or have nonschizophrenic mental disorders. D uring infancy and school age, a subgroup of offspring of schizophrenic pare nts showed global neurobehavioral deficits that were hypothesized to be ind icators of vulnerability to schizophrenia. The purposes of the present inve stigation were to determine if neurobehavioral deficits were present in the offspring of schizophrenics at adolescence, to examine their stability ove r time, and to explore their relation to concurrent mental adjustment. Methods: Sixty-five Israeli adolescents were assessed on a battery of neuro logic and neuropsychological assessments. They were also administered psych iatric interviews from which best-estimate DSM-III-R diagnoses and scores o f global adjustment were derived. Results: Adolescents with poor neurobehavioral functioning were identified from composites of motor and cognitive-attentional variables. A disproporti onate number of offspring of schizophrenic parents (42%; 10/24), and especi ally male offspring of schizophrenic parents (73%; 8/11), showed poor neuro behavioral functioning relative to offspring of nonschizophrenic parents (2 2%; 9/41). Adolescent offspring of schizophrenics with poor neurobehavioral functioning had been poorly functioning at earlier ages and had poor psych iatric adjustment at adolescence. All 4 offspring of schizophrenics receivi ng schizophrenia spectrum diagnoses by adolescence showed a pattern of poor neurobehavioral functioning across developmental periods. Conclusions: Results are consistent with the hypothesis that individuals at genetic risk for schizophrenia may display lifelong neurobehavioral signs that are indicators of vulnerability to schizophrenia and that are associat ed with psychiatric adjustment generally and schizophrenic spectrum disorde r specifically.