Predicting Schizophrenia in Teens

I am a strong believer that a full psychological approach should be taken in schools. We cannot exclude the influence of mental illness on psychoeducational testing and academic success and thereby should always be cued into the full clinical picture.

A recent study examined the predictive validity of the several symptoms including (for a full list review the article):

• Spending Excessive time alone doing nothing
• Social Withdrawal
• Thinking that people are following them; Paranoid thoughts
  

Teens with one of these symptoms showed a 35 percent risk of progressing to psychosis within 2.5 years (though I suspect symptom 3 inflated this result), but more importantly students experiencing all three were at up to an 80% risk.

Unfortunately early risk identification does not lead to decreased risk. What it can do though is provide time to prepare individuals and families prior to full progression of the illness and facilitate proper referrals and monitoring.

Source: Cannon, T. D. Archives of General Psychiatry, January 2008; vol 65: pp 28-37