In a preliminary study of developmental precursors of schizophrenia,
home movies of adult-onset schizophrenic patients and their healthy
siblings filmed during their childhood were viewed by judges who were blind
to the psychiatric outcome of the subjects. The films began with the
infancy of all subjects and extended through at least the first 5 years of
their lives. Although none of the subjects had any psychiatric disorder in
childhood, the preschizophrenic children were reliably identified by the
viewers. This represents the first demonstration that preschizophrenic
subjects can be distinguished from sibling control subjects within the
first 8 years of life by observing their behavior.Abstract Teaser