Is earlier intervention for schizophrenia possible? Identifying antecedents of schizophrenia in children aged 9-12 years

More recently, clinicians have recognized that attenuated symptoms and significant disability precede the onset of frank psychosis in the majority of patients. This awareness has led to even earlier intervention strategies, targeting help-seeking individuals in the prodromal phase of schizophrenia. These individuals have been identified clinically, using a combination of attenuated psychotic symptoms (Yung et al., 2003) or subtle self-experienced basic symptoms in a range of domains (Klosterkotter, Hellmich, Steinmeyer, & Schultze-Lutter, 2001) and a positive family history of schizophrenia. Results obtained to date suggest that these innovative services have successfully delayed, but not averted, transition to psychosis (Yung et al., 2007)