Predictors for Risk of Schizophrenia in Children
Poster C105, Saturday, October 22, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm, Le Baron
Yukiko Hamasaki1, Takao Nakayama1, Takatoshi Hikida2; 1kyoto women's university, 2Kyoto university
Aim: This study is a retrospective report of childhood neurobehavioral assessment in adult patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls using the CBCL (Child Behavior Checklist) to elucidate the subclinical characteristics of schizophrenic children and to find out indicators which predict later development of schizophrenia. Method: Schizophrenia outpatients in his/her twenties who fulfill DSM-IV-TR criteria and who present now mainly negative symptoms after passing an acute stage were investigated. Normal healthy subjects were also examined as sex- and age-matched controls. By modified use of the CBCL as a retrospective assessment questionnaire, the parents of the patients and of control subjects rated their childhood (aged 6-8 years) behaviors. Results: A logistic regression using the eight CBCL syndrome subscale T-scores adequately classified 83.5% of the population. Among the eight subscale T-scores, those of Withdrawn, Thought problems and Aggressive behavior were significantly associated with risk of schizophrenia, although any of these mean scores were not in clinical range. Concerning Aggressive behavior, patients showed a significantly lower score than controls. Conclusion: The results suggest that subclinical neurobehavioral characteristics of schizophrenia already exist in the patients' childhood. The combination of these characteristics would predict later development of schizophrenia. Furthermore, quite early screening for risk of schizophrenia could be possible with some instrument using obtained logistic regression model.
Topic Area: Ultra High Risk / Prodromal Research