Abstract
AIM: The notion of a disordered self as a core disturbance of schizophrenia was proposed in many foundational texts. Recent studies, spurred by the development of the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience (EASE), seem to indicate that self-disorders are a specific manifestation of schizophrenia vulnerability. Follow-up studies of help-seeking, prodromal and first-admission patients have demonstrated the utility of self-disorders for predicting later schizophrenia-spectrum disturbance. We wished to extend these findings by gauging the predictive value of self-disorders in a premorbid, non-clinical population at high risk for schizophrenia.
METHODS: Children from the Copenhagen High-Risk Project with high-genetic risk for schizophrenia (N = 212) were assessed premorbidly (average age = 15), and diagnostically re-evaluated after 10 and 25 years. Since the EASE was not available at the time of premorbid assessment, we hypothesized that a proxy scale drawn from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) could distinguish those who later developed a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder (N = 68) from those who remained healthy (N = 64). The Self-Disorder Scale comprised 32 items whose content suggested an aspect of self-disorder as measured by the EASE.
RESULTS: Premorbid Self-Disorder Scale scores significantly predicted lifetime schizophrenia-spectrum diagnosis in the high-risk cohort. Although there was considerable item overlap between the new scale and an existing MMPI scale (psychoticism), the overlap did not account for the Self-Disorder Scale's predictive efficacy.
CONCLUSION: The results support the notion of self-disorders as a core vulnerability feature in schizophrenia, detectable premorbidly in those developing later schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Early Intervention in Psychiatry |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Pages (from-to) | 45–53 |
| ISSN | 1751-7885 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Feb 2016 |