OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the relationship between negative symptoms and premorbid variables in drug-free schizophrenic patients. METHOD: The authors studied 63 clinically stable male schizophrenic inpatients who were not receiving any psychoactive medication. The patients were classified as having negative, positive, or mixed symptoms, and their premorbid functioning during childhood, early adolescence, and late adolescence was assessed by using the Premorbid Adjustment Scale. Correlational analyses were applied to the classification and developmental models. RESULTS: Patients with negative symptoms had significantly lower levels of premorbid functioning during late adolescence and significantly greater premorbid deterioration between childhood and early adolescence. Correlational analysis revealed significant positive relationships between premorbid variables and negative symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that a deterioration in social and intellectual functioning between childhood and adolescence is associated with the development of a negative symptom syndrome in schizophrenia. The premorbid deterioration appears to be an early prodrome of the disorder. Whether this residual negative symptom syndrome is in some way related to the deficit syndrome of schizophrenia awaits a prospective study.Abstract Teaser