Schizophrenia A Life-Course Developmental Perspective

Schizophrenia: A Life-Course Developmental Perspective covers research findings and ideas concerning the entire life course of schizophrenia. The book discusses research on life-span development in schizophrenia; the genetic and perinatal factors in the etiology of schizophrenia; as well as the neurobehavioral development of infants at risk for schizophrenia. The text also describes the early social and affective development in schizophrenic offspring; the clinical presentation, onset, early developmental patterns, course, and treatment of childhood-onset schizophrenia; and the prediction of psychiatric disorders in late adolescence. The cognitive and linguistic functions of adolescent children at risk for schizophrenia; longitudinal studies of premorbid development of adult schizophrenics; and the ontogenetic implications of sex differences in schizophrenia are also considered. The book further tackles emotion and attachment in families of schizophrenics; late-onset schizophrenia; and the development of liability to schizophrenia. The text then encompasses the developmental trajectories in schizophrenia. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and people working on the research about schizophrenia will find the book invaluable.