Inpatients from the Chestnut Lodge follow-up study diagnosed with
character disorder were studied to predict future schizophrenic
decompensation. Individually, three DSM-III criteria for schizotypal
personality disorder predicted schizophrenia at long-term follow-up:
magical thinking, suspiciousness or paranoid ideation, and social
isolation. Additionally, lower IQ, poorer premorbid quality of work, and
transient delusional experiences were predictive. No borderline personality
disorder criterion was predictive. This suggests that schizotypal but not
borderline personality disorder belongs in the schizophrenic spectrum.
Within schizotypal personality disorder, criteria from both familial and
clinical traditions appear to be dimensions of vulnerability to
psychosis.Abstract Teaser