Schizotypy and flexible learning: A prerequisite of creativity? (2009)
Written by: Bowman, C. H. Turnbull, O. H.
Year: 2009
Published in: Philoctetes VOLUME 2 · NUMBER 2
GENIUS AND MADNESS
The perceived relationship between creativity and mental health has had a long and colorful history (e.g., Brod, 1997; Eysenck, 1993; Folley and Park, 2005; Nettle, 2001; 2006). Formal and often more anecdotal research has tended to conclude that “genius” often carries with it the burden of “madness” (Bentall, 2003). Indeed, even a brief scan of the literature reveals a myriad of famous and highly successful authors, poets, mathematicians, and artists who reportedly lived in the shadow of mental illness, either within their family or directly. Authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, mathematicians including John Nash (Nasar, 1998) and Alan Turing (Hodges, 1992), composers like Beethoven (Mai, 2007), and Mozart (Lyon, in press), and others, such as Alexander Graham Bell (Carson, 2007), are all creative exemplars whose influential or even world-changing works seemingly came at the expense of their own emotional well-being.
Early childhood maternal separation predicts later schizophrenia symptoms (2008)
Written by: Liam Davenport
Year: 2008
Published in: MedWire News
Children who are separated from their mothers in the first 2 years of life are more likely to develop schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) symptoms than other children, particularly if they showed early angry emotional behavior, say US scientists. There is increasing evidence that early childhood experiences have an effect on the development of psychosis and schizophrenia in adulthood. However, the majority of this research has focused on early developmental delays, maltreatment, attachment problems, and parental loss, explain Deidre Anglin and colleagues from Columbia University in New York.
SPD in general population (2007)
Written by: Ng Suet Fung
Year: 2007
Published in:
The present study aims to explore the deficit of cognitive, social functioning, social cognition and social skill with the SPD of general population. Additionally, the relationship between social functioning and rejection sensitivity is also investigated. Furthermore, this paper wants to explore how social functioning and rejection sensitivity can predict the spore in the SPQ so as to build up the indirect relationship between SPQ score and rejection sensitivity. Lastly, gender effect on cognitive and social functioning will also be explored.
Cognitive Function and Symptoms in Adolescents with Schizotypal Personality Disorder (2006)
Written by: Hanan Trotman, Amanda McMillan and Elaine Walker
Year: 2006
Published in: Schizophrenia Bulletin
Cognitive deficits have been documented in schizophrenia and spectrum disorders. This study examines cognitive functioning and its relation to symptoms in adolescents with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). Participants are 89 adolescents recruited for a study of youth at risk for Axis I disorders, especially psychosis. At intake, 34 met criteria for SPD, 38 for another Axis II disorder and/or conduct disorder (Other disorder-OD), and 17 did not currently meet criteria for any DSM-IV disorder (normal control-NC). At initial assessment, cognitive functioning was measured using subtests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scales and Wechsler Memory Scales (WMS), and symptoms were measured using the Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms (SIPS).
Written by: Tsakanikos, Elias and Reed, Phil
Year: 2006
Published in: The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
We examined whether positive schizotypy (i.e., reports of hallucinatory and delusional-like experiences) in nonclinical participants could predict false perceptual experiences during detection of fast-moving words beyond a possible response bias. The participants (N = 160) were assigned to one of two conditions: they were asked either to make presence/absence judgments (loose criterion) or to read aloud every detected word (strict criterion). Regression analysis showed that high levels of positive schizotypy predicted false alarms in the loose condition and false perceptions of words in the strict condition. The obtained effects were independent of detection accuracy, task order, impulsivity, and social desirability. We discuss the results in the context of information processing biases linked to the positive symptomatology of schizophrenia. Clinical and theoretical implications are also considered.
Written by: Daniel Nettle and Helen Clegg
Year: 2005
Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society
There is an evolutionary puzzle surrounding the persistence of schizophrenia, since it is substantially heritable and associated with sharply reduced fitness. However, some of the personality traits which are predictive of schizophrenia are also associated with artistic creativity. Geoffrey Miller has proposed that artistic creativity functions to attract mates. Here, we investigate the relationship between schizotypal personality traits, creative activity, and mating success in a large sample of British poets, visual artists, and other adults. We show that two components of schizotypy are positively correlated with mating success. For one component, this relationship is mediated by creative activity. Results are discussed in terms of the evolution of human creativity and the genesis of schizophrenia.
Brain Connectivity and the Schizophrenia Spectrum (2005)Written by: Demian Rose, MD, PhD
Year: 2005
Published in: Schizophrenia Daily News Blog
There is ample evidence from family and genetic studies to suggest that schizophrenia is related to a less severe diagnosis known as "Schizotypal Personality Disorder" (SPD). The criteria for SPD share many of the criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia, including a pervasive pattern of disruption in social relationships, unusual sensations and perceptions, odd beliefs not consistent with cultural norms ("magical thinking") and a restricted range of emotional expressivity. Unlike schizophrenia, however, SPD is generally not chronically debilitating, does not involved frank hallucinations or significant cognitive impairments, and rarely benefits from the use of anti-psychotic medications. These observations have prompted some to speak of a “schizophrenia spectrum”, described as a range of deficits that extend from mild to severe, likely related to altered anatomy of similar brain structures.
Written by: Lone Petersen, Pia Jeppesen, Anne Thorup, Maj-Britt Abel, Johan Øhlenschlæger, Torben Østergaard Christensen, Gertrud Krarup, Per Jørgensen, Merete Nordentoft
Year: 2005
Published in: BMJ
Certain psychosocial treatments, such as assertive community treatment and family intervention, have been shown to have beneficial effects on clinical and social outcomes for patients with schizophrenia. It has also been suggested that early treatment after the onset of psychotic illness provides the best chance of preventing relapse. Our study (the OPUS trial) is the first large randomised clinical trial of integrated treatment versus standard treatment for patients who had experienced a first episode of psychosis.
Written by: Bradley S. Folley, Sohee Park
Year: 2005
Published in: Schizophrenia Research
Although anecdotal and correlational results have suggested a reliable relationship between creativity and psychosis, few studies have examined this relationship using empirical methods. In addition, little is known about the neural substrates of creative thinking. We investigated the creative thinking process in relation to schizotypal personality, schizophrenia and prefrontal hemispheric laterality using behavioral and near-infrared optical spectroscopy (NIRS) methods. Schizophrenic, psychometrically ascertained schizotypal, and healthy control subjects (all right-handed) participated in a novel "alternate uses" task designed to assess divergent thinking (DT) ability. The DT task required subjects to generate "uses" for conventional and ambiguous objects. Prefrontal activity was measured using NIRS while subjects were engaged in DT vs. a cognitive control task in a subset of the subjects. Behavioral data indicated that schizotypes had enhanced DT ability compared with schizophrenic and control subjects, who showed similar performance overall.
Written by: Peter Handest and Josef Parnas
Year: 2005
Published in: British Journal of Psychiatry
The category of ‘schizotypal disorder’ was introduced in classifications in 1980 (American Psychiatric Association) and in 1992 (World Health Organization), although the concept of subclinical forms of schizophrenia coexisted with the concept of schizophrenia itself from its emergence with various designations, e.g. schizoid personality, latent, simple, pseudo-neurotic, ambulatory and borderline schizophrenia). Contemporary literature on the subject is vast. One problem confronting the reader is that the reported samples are very diverse (e.g. comprising college students with high scores on psychometric scales targeting assumed schizotypal dimensions, persons identified in epidemiological–genetic studies of schizophrenia and patients diagnosed in clinical settings).
Odd behavior and creativity may go hand in hand (2005)Written by: Melanie Moran
Year: 2005
Published in: Vanderbilt
Often viewed as a hindrance, having a quirky or socially awkward approach to life may be the key to becoming a great artist, composer or inventor. New research on individuals with schizotypal personalities - people characterized by odd behavior and language but who are not psychotic or schizophrenic - offers the first neurological evidence that they are more creative than either normal or fully schizophrenic individuals, and rely more heavily on the right sides of their brains than the general population to access their creativity.
Symptoms of schizotypy precede cannabis use (2004)Written by: Jason Schiffmana, Brad Nakamuraa, Mitchell Earleywineb, Joseph LaBrie
Year: 2004
Published in: Psychiatry Research
The current investigation uses a large non-clinical sample of undergraduate college students (N=189) to investigate schizotypal traits among cannabis and non-cannabis users, as well as the temporal order of the onset of these traits and cannabis use. Findings suggest that regular cannabis users are significantly more prone to cognitive and perceptual distortions as well as disorganization, but not interpersonal deficits, than non-regular users and those who have never used. Additionally, the onset of schizotypal symptoms generally precedes the onset of cannabis use. The findings do not support a causal link between cannabis use and schizotypal traits.
Written by: Larry J. Siever, M.D. and Kenneth L. Davis, M.D.
Year: 2004
Published in:
This overview focuses on neurobiologic abnormalities found in subjects with schizotypal personality disorder, the prototype of the schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and chronic schizophrenia in the context of common vulnerabilities shared by SPD and schizophrenia, as well as those factors that protect against the severe cognitive/social deficits and frank psychosis of chronic schizophrenia. A pathophysiologic model of the relationship between schizotypal personality disorder and schizophrenia is developed on the basis of this data.
Written by: Elias Tsakanikos, Ph.D.
Year: 2004
Published in: Personality and Individual Differences
It was examined whether psychotic-like personality traits in a sample of 205 college students could predict logical reasoning deficits, akin to those seen in schizophrenia. The participants were tested on their ability to assess the logical validity of premises (Logical Reasoning Task), and completed a multi-dimensional schizotypy inventory (O-LIFE). Low accuracy was associated with increased levels of disorganized schizotypy (‘Cognitive Disorganization’), while elevated errors were associated with increased levels of positive (‘Unusual Experiences’), negative (‘Introvertive Anhedonia’) and impulsive (‘Impulsivity Non-conformity’) schizotypy.
Written by:
Year: 2004
Published in: Schizophrenia Daily News Blog
A preliminary study of the antipsychotic drug olanzapine from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical center indicates that it might benefit those with schizotypal personality disorder as well. Schizotypal Personality Disorder, or SPD, includes many of the social and cognitive deficits of schizophrenia (i.e. suspiciousness or paranoia, extreme social anxiety or withdrawal, odd thinking/speech, unusual perceptual experiences such as bodily illusions, etc). According to the American Description, it "does not occur exclusively during the course of schizophrenia", and the European Description asserts that in a diagnosis of SPD, "no definite and characteristic schizophrenic anomalies have occurred at any stage."
Written by: SHAHUL AMEEN, MD, SAMIR PRAHARAJ, DPM, VINOD KUMAR SINHA, MD,
Year: 2004
Published in: Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry
It has been postulated that to have any liability for schizophrenia, one must inherit a particular genetic constitution called “schizotaxia”, which is a ‘subtle neurointegrative deficit’. Upon this deficit, by the process of social learning, all individuals with schizotaxia develop a personality structure, called schizotype. Schizotype is characterized by four traits, cognitive slippage, social aversiveness, anhedonia and ambivalence. Schizotaxia was recently reformulated as emerging from the effects of an early environmental insult in conjunction with a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia, and schizotype as only one of its possible outcomes. The concept of schizotaxia several practical implications - the treatment of non-psychotic relatives of schizophrenia patients could serve to attenuate clinically meaningful symptoms, while identification of accurate predictors for development of schizophrenia in these individuals might enable the prevention of onset of schizophrenia. This review outlines the evolution of the concept of schizotaxia; its clinical features (including negative symptoms, psychosocial and neuropsychological impairments, neurological, neuroanatomic and neurochemical abnormalities), and the treatment options.
Written by: Andrea Fossatia, Adrian Raineb, Ilaria Carrettaa, Barbara Leonardia, Cesare Maffeia
Year: 2003
Published in: Personality and Individual Differences
Three factors are hypothesized to underlie schizotypal personality in the general population, but few data are currently available concerning its invariance across age and gender. This study tests the hypothesis that this three-factor structure is invariant across both age and gender. The Italian translation of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) was administered to a sample of 929 Italian high school students aged 16 years, and to a sample of 803 Italian university students aged 22 years. The two samples differed by age, but were balanced on gender.Principal component analyses confirmed the three-factor model of cognitive-perceptual, interpersonal, and disorganized features. Younger subjects had higher SPQ scores than older subjects. Females were characterized by higher scores on ideas of reference and excessive social anxiety, while males scored higher on no close friends, constricted affect, and odd behavior. As a whole, these results indicate that the three-factor model of schizotypal personality is invariant across age and gender, and encourage investigation of the differential correlates of these factors to better understand the mechanisms underlying schizotypal personality. The results of this study also support prior findings of gender differences in schizotypy scores.
Written by: THOMAS A. WIDIGER
Year: 2003
Published in: World Psychiatry
Every person has a characteristic manner of thinking, feeling, and relating to others. Some of these personality traits can be so dysfunctional as to warrant a diagnosis of personality disorder. The World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) includes ten personality disorder diagnoses. Three issues of particular importance for the diagnosis of personality disorders are their differentiation from other mental disorders, from general personality functioning, and from each other. Each of these issues is discussed in turn, and it is suggested that personality disorders are more accurately and effectively diagnosed as maladaptive variants of common personality traits.
Written by: JACQUELINE LEE
Year: 2003
Published in: Schizophrenia Update
Children with better nutrition, regulated exercise and a more nurturing educational experience are less likely to develop schizotypal personality disorder, a disorder that marks the stage before schizophrenia, according to a 20-year study led by a USC professor. The study, conducted by Adrian Raine, a professor of psychology and neuroscience, was the first ever to research how to prevent the disorder rather than just treat it.
Written by: Erin A. Hazlett, Ph.D., Jill Levine, M.A., Monte S. Buchsbaum, M.D., Jeremy M. Silverman, Ph.D., Antonia New, M.D., Elizabeth M. Sevin, B.A., Liza A. Maldari, M.A., and Larry J. Siever, M.D.
Year: 2003
Published in: Am J Psychiatry
Attentional deficits have been identified as an abnormality that individuals with schizotypal personality disorder share with schizophrenia patients. The purpose of this study was to examine automatic sensorimotor gating and controlled attentional modulation of the startle eye blink response in unmedicated subjects with schizotypal personality disorder.
Written by: Margaret A. Niznikiewicz, Ph.D. Martha E. Shenton, Ph.D. Martina Voglmaier, Ph.D. Paul G. Nestor, Ph.D. Chandlee C. Dickey, M.D. Melissa Frumin, M.D. Larry J. Seidman, Ph.D. Christopher G. Allen, B.A. Robert W. McCarley, M.D.
Year: 2002
Published in: Am J Psychiatry
Language dysfunction in schizophrenia has been regarded a cardinal symptom of this disorder for almost a century (1). Clinical reports abound with examples of speech samples characterized by loose associations, lack of sensitivity to context, defective use of pronouns (2–4),
or the inability to carry on a conversation bound by a theme (5). More recently, it has been proposed that language abnormalities in schizophrenia are mediated by dysfunctional processes in semantic memory. Specifically, it has been suggested that processes of activation and/or context utilization may be abnormal. Although several studies have investigated semantic processes in schizophrenia, few studies have evaluated schizotypal personality disorder. Persons with a diagnosis of either schizotypal personality disorder or schizophrenia share the same genetic diathesis (6, 7). However, persons with schizotypal personality disorder do not have the potentially confounding history of psychosis or hospitalization. Furthermore, studies of cognitive functions in subjects with schizotypal personality disorder have reported impairments similar to but less severe than those observed in schizophrenic subjects (8–11).
Psychological Trauma and Schizotypal Symptoms (2003)
Written by: Howard Berenbaum, Eve M. Valera, and John Q. Kerns
Year: 2003
Published in: Schizophrenia Bulletin
In a sample of 75 women recruited from the community, we measured trauma/maltreatment history and symptoms of schizotypal personality disorder, using both questionnaire and interview measures. As hypothesized, individuals with histories of trauma/maltreatment had elevated levels of schizotypal symptoms. Among types of trauma/maltreatment, reported childhood neglect was especially strongly associated with schizotypal symptoms.
Written by: Lina Shihabuddin, MD; Monte S. Buchsbaum, MD; Erin A. Hazlett, PhD; Jeremy Silverman, PhD;
Antonia New, MD; Adam M. Brickman; Vivian Mitropoulou, MA; Melissa Nunn; Michael B. Fleischman;
Cheuk Tang, PhD; Larry J. Siever, MD
Year: 2001
Published in: ARCH GEN PSYCHIATRY
Schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) shares social deficits and cognitive impairment with schizophrenia, but is not typically characterized by frank psychosis. Because striatal size and functional activity have both been shown to be associated with psychotic symptoms, we carried out the first study of SPD to assess the caudate and putamen for comparison with findings in schizophrenia.
Written by: Emil F. Coccaro and Larry J. Siever
Year: 2000
Published in: Neuropsychopharmacology - 5th Generation of Progress
The inclusion for the first time of a chapter on the neuropsychopharmacology of the personality disorders in the "ACNP Generation of Progress" series reflects the increasing appreciation of underlying neurobiologic substraits for these disorders and the value of targeted psychopharmacologic treatment. The personality disorders, located on Axis II in DSM-III-R and DSM-IV, consist of constellations of enduring or persistent maladaptive traits and/or symptoms that are characteristic of the way an individual experiences and interacts with his/her environment. In contrast with the Axis I disorders, which are primarily symptom-oriented and wax and wane in severity (often in episodic fashion), the Axis II personality disorders are conceived to be characteristic of an individual throughout his lifetime. This conceptual distinction between the Axis I and II disorders, while heuristically useful, is becoming increasingly blurred because studies into the neuropsychopharmacology of personality disorder suggest that enduring traits reflect underlying biologic variations that may be amenable to alteration with psychopharmacologic treatment. While some have argued that these considerations argue for the abolition of Axis II, the separation of these disorders on Axis II has highlighted the fact that traits considered to be part of an individual's stable personality can be substantially impacted by psychopharmacologic treatment. While the DSM-III and III-R represented a significant advance over DSM-II in the identification of specific categories of personality disorder, many of these categories were found to be overlapping and have yet to be validated by external validators. By the advent of DSM-IV, validating antecedents and correlates in both biologic and psychosocial arenas have been found for some of the personality disorders, particularly schizotypal and borderline personality disorder. The total number of these disorders has been reduced from 11 to 10, and criteria have been sharpened with no major changes in the constructs
Written by: Martina M. Voglmaier, Ph.D. Larry J. Seidman, Ph.D. Margaret A. Niznikiewicz, Ph.D. Chandlee C. Dickey, M.D. Martha E. Shenton, Ph.D. Robert W. McCarley, M.D.
Year: 2000
Published in: Am J Psychiatry
The authors contrasted verbal and nonverbal measures of attention and memory in patients with DSMIV- defined schizotypal personality disorder in order to expand on their previous findings of verbal learning deficits in these patients and to understand better the neuropsychological profile of schizotypal personality disorder.
Written by: Bethesda, MD
Year: 1997
Published in: About.com
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) report in the September 5, 1997 issue of Cell that they have identified a gene that disrupts normal social behavior among laboratory mice missing that gene.
In addition, these mutant mice have abnormalities in sensorimotor gating - a process believed to be important in animals for filtering the multitude of stimuli that constantly bombard their senses and allowing them to focus on one stimulus at a time.
Sensorimotor gating defects are also believed to contribute to symptoms of several human neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, schizotypal personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Huntington's disease and Tourette syndrome. All of these human disorders appear to have genetic components, but the specific gene disrupted in these mice, dishevelled-1, has not previously been associated with any of them.
Neuropsychological abnormalities associated with schizotypal personality (1995)Written by: TODD LENCZ, ADRIAN RAINE, DEANA S. BENISHA y, SHARI MILLS, and LAURA BIRD
Year: 1995
Published in: Schizotypal Disorder
As more and more evidence has accumulated to support the hypothesis of a genetic basis to schizophrenia (Fowles. 1992; Meehl. 1990), research has turned increasingly toward examining biological mechanisms that may underlie the disorder. Researchers have attempted to isolate neuroanatomical, psychophysiological, cognitive, and neuropsychological impairnents in schizophrenics that may be expressions of what Meehl ( 1990) tenned the "integrative neural defect." This defect is the phenotypic manifestation of the schizogene(s) and is theorized to set the stage for the emergence of psychotic symptomatology.
Written by: John Gruzelier, Adrian Burgess, Janet Stygall, Gillian Irving and Adrian Raine
Year: 1993
Published in: Psychiatry Research
The Scizotypal Personality Questionnaire, modeled on the nine components of DSM-III-R schizotypy, was administered to 122 medical students along with the Thayer Activation-Deactivation Adjective Checklist and the Warrington Recognition Memory Test for words and faces. Close affinities were found between a three-factor schizotypal personality structure and a three-syndrome model of schizophrenia.
Written by: Adrian Raine, Chandra Reynolds, Todd Lencz, Angela Scerbo, Nelly Triphon and Deborah Kim
Year: 1994
Published in: Schizophrenia Bulletin
While two factors are currently thought to underlie individual differences in schizotypal personality, three factors may best explain schizotypal traits. This study used confirmatory factor analysis to assess five competing models of schizotypal personality in the general population: null model, one-factor model, simple two-factor model, Kendler twofactor model, and three-factor model.
Written by: Adrian Raine, Charlotte Sheard, Gavin P. Reynolds and Todd Lencz
Year: 1992
Published in: Schizophrenia Research
This study tests the hypothesis that pre-frontal deficits underlie schizotypal personality in the normal population. Personality measures assessing features of DSM-IIIR schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) were related to left and right pre-frontal brain area assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and neuropsychological measures of pre-frontal functioning (Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, WCST) in a group of non-institutionalized, unmedicated normal subjects. High schizo typal scores were significantly associated with reduced pre-frontal area and more WCST perseveration errors; conversely no relationships were observed between these pre-frontal measures and measures of psychosis-proneness unrelated to SPD traits.
Written by: Adrian Raine
Year: 1992
Published in: Journal of Abnormal Psychology
This study tests the hypothesis that normal women will score higher on the more "positive" features of schizotypal personality and normal men will score higher on more "negative" schizotypal features. Two samples (n = 393, 394) were administered the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire, which contains subscales corresponding to the 9 schizotypal personality traits outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistica[ Manua[ ofMenta[ Disorders (rev.3rd ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1987). Women scored significantly higher on the positive subscales of Ideas of Reference and Odd Beliefs/Magical Thinking, and men scored significantly higher on the negative subscales of No Close Friends and Constricted Affect.
Written by: DEBORAH KIM, B.A., ADRIAN RAlNE, D.PHIL.. NELLY TRIPHON, B.A.,I AND MICHAEL F. GREEN, PII.D.
Year: 1992
Published in: The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
Using a nonclinical, noncollege sample, this study set out to confirm and extend previous findings of a relationship between the cognitive-perceptual features of schizotypal personality and mixed handedness using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), basedd on previous findings of relationships between non dextrality and thought disorder in schizophrenia, it was predicted that the odd speech subscale of the SPQ would have the strongest relationship with mixed handedness. Mixed-handed adults did have significantly higher scores than right-handed and left-handed adults on the cognitive-perceptual factor and its subscale of odd speech.
Written by: Adrian Raine
Year: 1991
Published in: Schizophrenia Bulletin
Existing self-report measures of schizotypal personality assess only one to three of the nine traits of schizo typal personality disorder. This study describes the development of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), a self-report scale modeled on DSM-III-R criteria for schizotypal personality disorder and containing sub scales for all nine schizotypal traits.
Relatedness of Schizotypal to Schizophrenic Disorders: Editors' Introduction (1985)Written by: John G. Gunderson and Larry J. Siever
Year: 1985
Published in: Schizophrenia Bulletin
The schizotypal personality category introduced in DSM-III reflects an initial effort to organize psychiatric diagnosis on a biogenetic basis. The schizotypal diagnosis is intended to reflect a genetic association with schizophrenia. One result of this inclusion has been to stimulate a growing body of evidence about its validity - evidence that is reviewed in this issue by Kendler, Torgersen, Siever, and Stone. These studies suggest that criteria which emphasize interpersonal and social trait disabilities are more specific to a schizotype than criteria which stress psychotic like symptoms.
Written by: Kenneth S. Kendler
Year: 1985
Published in: Schizophrenia Bulletin
The goal of this article is to provide a historical perspective on the DSM-III concept of schizotypal personality disorder. It is argued that two major traditions have influenced our conceptualization of this diagnostic entity. The first or familial approach emphasizes the characteristic traits found in the deviant but nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenics. The second or clinical approach focuses on patients who appear to demonstrate the fundamental symptoms of schizophrenia without psychotic symptoms or severe personality deterioration.
Relationship of Schizotypal Personality Disorder to Schizophrenia: Genetics (1985)Written by: Svenn Torgersen
Year: 1985
Published in: Schizophrenia Bulletin
The adoptive, family, and twin studies show that schizotypal personality features are found among the relatives of schizophrenics. However, it has not been shown that there is a higher risk of schizophrenia among the relatives of schizotypals. An explanation may be that the current DSM-III criteria of schizotypal personality disorder do not adequately define schizotypals genetically related to schizophrenia. While some of the cases that meet DSM-III criteria are within the schizophrenia spectrum, others are unrelated to schizophrenia.
Biological Markers in Schizotypal Personality Disorder (1985)Written by: Larry J. Siever
Year: 1985
Published in: Schizophrenia Bulletin
The establishment of the new diagnostic category, Schizotypal Personality Disorder (SPD), has stimulated biological studies of patients with this disorder. Such studies offer the potential of better understanding the diagnosis and treatment of SPD as well as more clearly defining the boundaries of the schizophrenic disorders. SPD has been studied in the clinical setting, in family studies of schizophrenia, and in the biological high-risk paradigm. In most cases, biological variables associated with schizophrenia have been evaluated. Decreased activities of plasma amine oxidase and platelet monoamine oxidase have been associated with SPD in the families of schizophrenics and in "biological high-risk" studies.
Written by: Michael Stone
Year: 1985
Published in: Schizophrenia Bulletin
Schizotypal personality (SP) corresponds closely to the concept from which it was derived, "borderline schizophrenia," and represents, in most instances, the intermediate band of the schizophrenia spectrum. Problems often encountered in patients with SP include eccentric social habits, anhedonia, hypersensitivity to criticism, humorlessness, misinterpretation of the moods and statements of others, and inability to fit in socially. While neuroleptic medication may be useful during brief psychotic episodes (to which many patients with SP are prone), the mainstays of treatment are verbal psychotherapies.
Schizotypal Personality Disorder: An Operational Definition of Bleuler's Latent Schizophrenia? (1985)Written by: Seymour S. Kety
Year: 1985
Published in: Schizophrenia Bulletin
In spite of the pressure for consensus that operational diagnoses exert, there remains considerable disagreement concerning the marginal syndromes which may be subtypes of schizophrenia or phenomenologically or genetically related. Some clarification of the question may result by returning to Bleuler's "latent schizophrenia," which he observed in the relatives of schizophrenics. Schizotypal personality disorder of DSM-III is only a first approximation to this, and its deficits in this respect are discussed briefly.
Written by: Allen Frances
Year: 1985
Published in: Schizophrenia Bulletin
The author questions the assumption that family relationship should be given primacy as the validating criterion in establishing diagnostic items for the DSM-III definition of schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). The presenting characteristics of clinically defined patients may be quite different from those that best describe the nonpatient relatives of schizophrenic patients encountered in genetic or high-risk studies. Since the DSM-III nomenclature is meant primarily for use in clinical settings, it must be based on symptom characteristics found in patients, not in nonpatient relatives.
Written by: ADRIAN RAINE
Year: 1985
Published in: Pergamon Journals Lid
Eysenck and Eysenck's (1976) genetic model of psychoticism links psychopathy with schizophrenia and predicts a relationship between psychopathy and the Psychoticism scale of the EPQ. However, two recent studies fail to support this prediction. It is argued that this theory may be more appropriately tested using DSM-III categories of borderline and schizotypal personality disorder and more specific measures of schizoid personality. This study also assesses two claims by Howard, Bailey and Newman (1984) that an affective deficit is common to both psychopathy and schizophrenia and that Hare's Checklist for Psychopathy is lacking in clinical specificity.
450 Views - 0 Comments
551 Views - 0 Comments
649 Views - 1 Comment
572 Views - 0 Comments