Schizophrenia and Schizophrenia-Spectrum Personality Disorders in the First-Degree Relatives of Children With Schizophrenia (original) (raw)

Morbidity Risk of Schizophrenia to Parents and Siblings of Schizophrenic Patients

Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 1987

In order to estimate the familial morbidity risk of schizophrenia, parents and siblings of 1,691 inpatients meeting the DSM-I11 criteria for schizophrenia were investigated on the basis of a review of medical records, family history data and/or personal interviews. The morbidity risks of schizophrenia to parents and siblings of the schizophrenic probands were 4.0% and 4.1 %, respectively, which were greater than the morbidity risk in the general population. Siblings of 118 probands whose parents suffered from schizophrenia were at a significantly greater risk of schizophrenia than siblings of 1,493 probands whose parents did not have schizophrenic illness. These findings support the notion of familial transmission of schizophrenia. A total of 16.4% of the schizophrenic probands had at least one first-degree relative with schizophrenia. This is significantly greater in the female probands than in the male probands.

Morbid risk of schizophrenia amongst relatives of schizophrenia probands: A family-controlled study

South African Journal of Psychiatry

Introduction: There is a dearth of data on heritability of schizophrenia in Africa. The few African studies that addressed familial psychiatric morbidity in schizophrenia involved relatively small sample sizes and addressed psychiatric morbidity only in first-degree relatives. The present study sought to improve upon the methodology of previous African studies, and widen the scope to second- and third-degree relatives with a view to enriching the field of genetic epidemiology in Africa.Methods: This study elicited information on the morbid risk of schizophrenia amongst 5259 relatives of schizophrenia probands (n = 138) and 6734 relatives of healthy controls (n = 138) through direct interview of patients, available relatives of patients and controls. Diagnosis of probands was confirmed using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Through a direct interview of 138 patients and their available relatives, a family history approach using the Family Interview for Genetic Studies w...

Schizophrenia among first-degree relatives of paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics

Comprehensive Psychiatry, 1974

I 197 1, McCabe et al.' conducted a blind family study of a group consisting of 28 good-prognosis and 25 poor-prognosis schizophrenics. The results of that study showed that the families of poor-prognosis schizophrenics contained significantly more schizophrenia, neurosis, and overall illness, but significantly less affective disorder, than the families of good-prognosis schizophrenics. On the basis of their study, the data seemed to support the idea of at least two illnesses in schizophrenia: namely, that which could be called "good prognosis," which tends toward affective disorder, and that which could be called "poor prognosis," which tends toward process schizophrenia.

Schizotypy: phenotypic marker as risk factor

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2000

Bleuler concluded that the familial liability to schizophrenia expressed itself more commonly as the chronic neurotic and character disorders that he considered formes fruste of schizophrenia . Bleuler named these conditions latent schizophrenia in which he considered could be seen in nuce all the symptoms that are present in manifest schizophrenia [1, pp. 335-336].

Psychopathology among offspring of parents with schizophrenia: Relationship to premorbid impairments

Schizophrenia Research, 2008

Introduction-A broad range of psychopathology, including externalizing disorders is seen in offspring at genetic risk for schizophrenia. However, it is unclear whether such psychopathology may underlie a higher predisposition to the premorbid antecedents of schizophrenia. We examined the prevalence and correlates of psychopathology in an ongoing study of offspring genetically at risk for schizophrenia.

Multiple Dimensions of Schizotypy in First Degree Biological Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients

Schizophrenia Bulletin, 2004

There has been considerable research aimed at identifying individuals who carry the predisposition for schizophrenia, with much effort devoted to the characterization of the personality characteristics of the biological relatives of schizophrenia patients. Although resource consuming interview methods have yielded promising results, investigators have long sought self-report measures that index genetic risk for schizophrenia. The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) is a self-report measure that assesses the nine features of DSM defined schizotypy. The SPQ, modified to include validity scales, was administered to 135 nonpsychotic first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients and 112 healthy controls. Principal components analysis yielded three factors that correlated highly with previously reported factors (social-interpersonal, cognitive-perceptual, disorganization). Social-interpersonal deficits were found to best differentiate relatives from controls. Inconsistent with the hypothesis that schizophrenia relatives are more defensive in responding to schizotypy questionnaires, relatives were significantly less defensive than controls. The results demonstrate that a multidimensional paper-and-pencil measure can characterize schizotypal features in schizophrenia relatives and, as such, will be useful for the further delineation of the heritable schizophrenia spectrum phenotype.

A multivariate perspective on schizotypy and familial association with schizophrenia: A review

Clinical Psychology Review, 2011

Although generally accepted that schizotypal personality disorder diagnosis is more prevalent among relatives of individuals with schizophrenia and may be associated with genetic liability to schizophrenia, it seems likely that this diagnosis is itself heterogeneous and thus perhaps not as useful in identifying genes that affect schizophrenia risk (i.e. endophenotypes) as it could be. In contrast, symptoms and dimensions of schizotypal personality disorder may be more etiologically homogeneous, and thus more useful in genetic studies. The current review evaluated and consolidated evidence to date regarding specific symptoms and dimensions of schizotypal personality disorder among non-psychotic relatives of schizophrenia patients. Comparisons were made with relatives of affective disorder patients and non-psychiatric controls. Findings indicate strong support for elevation of social-interpersonal schizotypal symptoms among relatives of schizophrenia patients versus other groups along with moderate specificity. Results suggest only a small elevation of cognitive-perceptual and disorganized symptoms in relatives of schizophrenia patients and results for disorganized symptoms were inconsistent across studies. Thus, evidence to date supports further investigation of genetic associations between symptoms of schizotypal personality disorder and schizophrenia, and suggests that social-interpersonal symptoms may be particularly promising in genetic analyses of schizophrenia.

A Family Study of Schizotypal Disorder

Schizophrenia Bulletin, 1995

Direct, blind interviews were used to study the risk for and prevalence of DSM-I1I-R Axis I and II disorders in 93 firstdegree relatives of outpatients with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) and outpatients with other personality disorders. Risks for SPD (at a slightly loosened diagnostic threshold) and schizoid personality disorder were significantly higher in the families of probands with SPD. Schizophrenia was present only among relatives of probands with SPD, accounting for a morbid risk of 4.1 percent. Neither familial risks for mood and anxiety disorders nor the prevalence of other Axis II disorders significantly differed in the two groups of relatives. It is suggested that SPD is a familial disorder representing a phenotypic expression of liability to schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 21(1): 33-45, 1995. SZT-BDL PD = schizotypal borderline personality disorder; PD = personality disorder; SPD = schizotypal personality disorder; SZT = schizotypal. 'Kendler and Gruenberg (1984) and Torgersen (1984) were based on direct interviews; all others were family history studies. at Bibliotheque de l'Universite Laval on December 12, 2012 http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/ Downloaded from at Bibliotheque de l'Universite Laval on December 12, 2012 http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/ Downloaded from

Elevated rates of schizophrenia in a familial sample with mental illness and intellectual disability

Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 2004

Background-It is unknown whether intellectual disability (ID) is more familially related to psychotic mood disorders or schizophrenia. L. S. Penrose's large sample of families with two or more members admitted to psychiatric hospitals provided a unique opportunity to investigate the familial relationship between mild ID, schizophrenia and psychotic affective disorders. Method-There were 183 affected relative pairs comprising probands with mild ID (95 male, 88 female) and their first or second degree relatives with schizophrenia or psychotic affective disorder. Results-There were nearly twice as many relatives with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (n = 121) as relatives with affective disorders (n = 62) among the intellectually impaired probands. This excess of schizophrenia was statistically significant, even after accounting for the increased risk of hospitalization for schizophrenia (P = 0.005), and was fairly constant across the different relative types. First-degree relatives with either mental illness were more likely to be parents (n = 77) than siblings (n = 51) or children (n = 3), but there was no excess of mother-son pairs. Conclusions-These results suggest a stronger familial relationship of ID with schizophrenia than psychotic affective disorder, and lend some support to the neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia.