Subclinical expression of schizophrenia-like symptoms in non-psychotic siblings of individuals with schizophrenia

摘要

There have been numerous reports of mild psychopathologyin the relatives of individuals with schizophrenia, including odd behaviors, social withdrawal, and difficulty with personal relationships. These features have been referenced as "schizotypal," given their similarity to the psychopathology observed in individuals with schizophrenia, and viewed as evidence for the genetic basis of schizophrenia (e.g., Meehl, 1962). Recently, psychopathology in individuals with schizophrenia has been factored into four domains; i.e., positive symptoms, disorganized symptoms, diminished expression (i.e., affective flattening, alogia) (Blanchard and Cohen, 2006) and social dysfunction (i.e., anhedonia, avolition) (Peralta and Cuesta, 1999). However, the applicability of this model to the expression of psychopathologyin the relatives of individuals with schizophrenia has not been studied.