TY - JOUR
T1 - From lumping to splitting and back again
T2 - Atypical social and language development in individuals with clinical-high-risk for psychosis, first episode schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorders
AU - Solomon, Marjorie
AU - Olsen, Emily
AU - Niendam, Tara
AU - Ragland, J. Daniel
AU - Yoon, Jong
AU - Minzenberg, Michael
AU - Carter, Cameron S.
N1 - Funding Information:
During the preparation of this manuscript, Dr. Solomon was supported by a K-08 Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (1K08 MH074967-01) and a Pilot Award from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression. Drs. Carter, Ragland, Niendam, & Yoon were supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Early Detection and Intervention to Prevent Psychosis). Dr. Carter also was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (2R01 MH059883-05A1). All sponsors had no further role in study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, in the writing of the report, and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.
PY - 2011/9
Y1 - 2011/9
N2 - Objective: Individuals with autism and schizophrenia exhibit atypical language and social symptoms. The extent to which these symptoms are evident during development and in current functioning is unclear. Method: Three groups of patients aged 11-20 diagnosed as clinical-high-risk for psychosis (CHR; n = 15), first episode psychosis (FEP; n = 16), and autism spectrum disorders (ASD; n = 20), plus typically developing individuals (TYP; n = 20) were compared on common autism parent-report questionnaires assessing social and language development and current functioning including the Social Communication Questionnaire, the Children's Communication Checklist, and the Social Reciprocity Scale. Results: All clinical groups demonstrated atypical social and language development, with social impairment highest in ASD. Twenty percent of participants with CHR and FEP met diagnostic criteria for ASD as assessed by parent-report. ASD exhibited greater current syntactic, and pragmatic language symptoms including delayed echolalia, pedantic speech, and deficits in appreciating irony and sarcasm. All clinical groups exhibited current deficits in social functioning. CHR and FE had similar and intermediate levels of functioning relative to ASD and TYP, with CHR generally scoring closer to TYP, providing construct validity for the CHR diagnostic label. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that ASDs, CHR, and FEP share common features of atypical neurodevelopment of language and social function. Evidence of impaired social reciprocity across both disorders and distinct language symptoms in ASDs provides important information for differential diagnosis and psychosis prevention, as well as leads for future investigations of comparative genetics and pathophysiology.
AB - Objective: Individuals with autism and schizophrenia exhibit atypical language and social symptoms. The extent to which these symptoms are evident during development and in current functioning is unclear. Method: Three groups of patients aged 11-20 diagnosed as clinical-high-risk for psychosis (CHR; n = 15), first episode psychosis (FEP; n = 16), and autism spectrum disorders (ASD; n = 20), plus typically developing individuals (TYP; n = 20) were compared on common autism parent-report questionnaires assessing social and language development and current functioning including the Social Communication Questionnaire, the Children's Communication Checklist, and the Social Reciprocity Scale. Results: All clinical groups demonstrated atypical social and language development, with social impairment highest in ASD. Twenty percent of participants with CHR and FEP met diagnostic criteria for ASD as assessed by parent-report. ASD exhibited greater current syntactic, and pragmatic language symptoms including delayed echolalia, pedantic speech, and deficits in appreciating irony and sarcasm. All clinical groups exhibited current deficits in social functioning. CHR and FE had similar and intermediate levels of functioning relative to ASD and TYP, with CHR generally scoring closer to TYP, providing construct validity for the CHR diagnostic label. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that ASDs, CHR, and FEP share common features of atypical neurodevelopment of language and social function. Evidence of impaired social reciprocity across both disorders and distinct language symptoms in ASDs provides important information for differential diagnosis and psychosis prevention, as well as leads for future investigations of comparative genetics and pathophysiology.
KW - Autism
KW - Language
KW - Neurodevelopment
KW - Schizophrenia
KW - Social
KW - Thought disorder
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U2 - 10.1016/j.schres.2011.03.005
DO - 10.1016/j.schres.2011.03.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 21458242
AN - SCOPUS:80051794190
SN - 0920-9964
VL - 131
SP - 146
EP - 151
JO - Schizophrenia Research
JF - Schizophrenia Research
IS - 1-3
ER -