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The British Journal of Psychiatry (1969) 115: 321-334. doi: 10.1192/bjp.115.520.321
© 1969 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Comparison of Hospitalization Measures in Schizophrenic Patients with and without a Family History of Schizophrenia

L. ERLENMEYER-KIMLING Ph.D.1 and SUSAN NICOL M.A.2

1 Senior Research Scientist, Department of Medical Genetics, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Research Associate, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University
2 Assistant Research Scientist, Department of Medical Genetics, New York State Psychiatric Institute

To minimize the influence of variables other than family history in the comparisons of the hospitalization patterns, 253 family history cases were matched to patients with negative family history (matchmates) on a number of variables and were further contrasted with respect to several other variables of possible prognostic significance. The two types of cases were found to be similar on all such variables with the exception of the frequency of psychiatric disorders in relatives. Results of the hospitalization analyses showed the patients with schizophrenic siblings not to be different from their matchmates on any of the measures used as indices of severity. Although no strong association between history of schizophrenia in the parents and degree of severity was established, the data in aggregate suggested that patients with schizophrenic parents are likely to have somewhat poorer histories of hospitalization than any of the other patient groups. Data were discussed in relation to previous studies that have considered family history as a prognostic indicator and in relation to several theoretical issues regarding schizophrenia. The results of the analyses were considered to be in line with the interaction model of schizophrenia, in which severity, like the basic manifestation of the disorder, is viewed as a product of interaction between environmental stress and genotypic predisposition. It was concluded that the analysis of familial incidence of schizophrenia and severity on currently existing measures is not a useful means of differentiating among genetic hypotheses.

Submitted on September 15, 1967




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Arch Gen PsychiatryHome page
C. F. Hoover and J. D. Franz
Siblings in the Families of Schizophrenics
Arch Gen Psychiatry, April 1, 1972; 26(4): 334 - 342.
[Abstract] [PDF]


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Psychiatric Bulletin Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals
Copyright © 1969 The Royal College of Psychiatrists.