Neurobehavioral Deficits at Adolescence in Children at Risk for Schizophrenia

Sydney L. Hans, Joseph Marcus, Keith H. Nuechterlein, Robert F. Asarnow, Benedict Styr, Judith G. Auerbach
1999 Archives of General Psychiatry  
The Jerusalem Infant Development Study is a prospective investigation comparing offspring of schizophrenic parents with offspring of parents who have no mental disorder or have nonschizophrenic mental disorders. During infancy and school age, a subgroup of offspring of schizophrenic parents showed global neurobehavioral deficits that were hypothesized to be indicators of vulnerability to schizophrenia. The purposes of the present investigation were to determine if neurobehavioral deficits were
more » ... resent in the offspring of schizophrenics at adolescence, to examine their stability over time, and to explore their relation to concurrent mental adjustment. Methods: Sixty-five Israeli adolescents were assessed on a battery of neurologic and neuropsychological assessments. They were also administered psychiatric interviews from which best-estimate DSM-III-R diagnoses and scores of global adjustment were derived. Results: Adolescents with poor neurobehavioral functioning were identified from composites of motor and cog-
doi:10.1001/archpsyc.56.8.741 pmid:10435609 fatcat:rw5qkrncv5flrnvgk25llesioq