Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-94d59 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T16:00:17.828Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Sex and Schizophrenia: Vive la Différence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Shón Lewis*
Affiliation:
Academic Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London W6 8RP

Extract

Epidemiological research in schizophrenia is back in fashion and has taken an iconoclastic turn. Received truths about schizophrenia had a reassuring stability about them, rather like Euclidean geometry. In contrast to, and perhaps in reaction to, the frustrating nebulousness of the disorder itself, its distribution had the attributes of a universal constant: incidence and symptoms unchanging over time and across space–and between the sexes. Dissenting voices were few, but now are growing in number and volume. One sex difference, that of age at onset of schizophrenia, has been accepted since Kraepelin's time, although is still unexplained. But sex differences in incidence, course, and symptoms are now being mooted which hint at sex-dependent differences in aetiology. Much of the re-examination of this issue has sprung from the work of Jill Goldstein and colleagues at Harvard, Robin Murray, David Castle, and colleagues at the Institute of Psychiatry, as well as others, such as Mathias Angermeyer in Mannheim.

Type
Annotation
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Addington, J. & Addington, D. (1991) Gender differences in cognitive function and symptoms in schizophrenics. Schizophrenia Research, 4, 273.Google Scholar
Andreasen, N. C., Erhardt, J. C., Swayze, V. W. 2d. et al (1990) Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain in schizophrenia. The pathopsychologic significance of structural abnormalities. Archives of General Psychiatry, 47, 3544.Google Scholar
Angermeyer, M. C., Goldstein, J. M. & Kuhn, L. (1989) Gender differences in schizophrenia: rehospitalization and community survival. Psychological Medicine, 19, 365382.Google Scholar
Angermeyer, M. C., Kuhn, L. & Goldstein, J. M. (1990) Gender and the course of schizophrenia: differences in treated outcomes. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 16, 293307.Google Scholar
Aylward, E., Walker, E. & Bettes, B. (1984) Intelligence in schizophrenia: meta-analysis of the research. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 10, 430459.Google Scholar
Bardenstein, K. K. & McGlashan, T. H. (1990) Gender differences in affective, schizoaffective and schizophrenic disorders. A review. Schizophrenia Research, 3, 159172.Google Scholar
Biehl, M., Maurer, K., Schubart, C., et al (1986) Prediction of outcome and utilization of medical services in a prospective study of first-onset schizophrenics – a prospective 5–year follow up study. European Archives of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences, 236, 139147.Google Scholar
Bleuler, M. (1974) The long term course of the schizophrenic psychoses. Psychological Medicine, 4, 244254.Google Scholar
Bogerts, B., Ashtari, M., Degreef, G., et al (1990) Reduced temporal limbic structure volumes on magnetic resonance images in first episode schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 35, 113.Google Scholar
Breier, A. & Astrachan, B. M. (1984) Characteristics of schizophrenic patients who commit suicide. American Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 206209.Google Scholar
Carlson, M., Earls, F. & Todd, R. D. (1988) The importance of regressive changes in the development of the nervous system: towards a neurobiological theory of child development. Psychiatric Developments, 1, 122.Google Scholar
Castle, D. J. & Murray, R. M. (1991) The neurodevelopmental basis of sex differences in schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine, 21, 565575.Google Scholar
Castle, D. J., Wessley, S. C. & Murray, R. M. (1992) Sex and schizophrenia: effects of diagnostic stringency, and associations with premorbid variables. British Journal of Psychiatry (in press).Google Scholar
Childers, S. E. & Harding, C. M. (1990) Gender, premorbid social functioning and long-term outcome in DSM–3 schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 16, 309318.Google Scholar
Ciompi, L. (1980) The natural history of schizophrenia in the long term. British Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 413420.Google Scholar
Connolly, C. J. (1950) External Morphology of the Primate Brain. Springfield, Illinois: Thomas.Google Scholar
Crow, T. J. (1988) Sex chromosomes and psychosis: the case for a pseudoautosomal locus. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 675683.Google Scholar
Curtis, D. & Gurling, H. (1990) Unsound methodology in investigating a pseudoautosomal locus in schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 415416.Google Scholar
Foerster, A., Lewis, S. W., Owen, M. J., et al (1991a) Premorbid personality in psychosis: effects of sex and diagnosis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 171176.Google Scholar
Foerster, A., Lewis, S. W., Owen, M. J., et al (1991b) Low birth weight and a family history of schizophrenia predict poor premorbid functioning in psychosis. Schizophrenia Research, 5, 1320.Google Scholar
Gerada, C. & Reveley, A. M. (1988) Schizophreniform psychosis associated with the menstrual cycle. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 700702.Google Scholar
Goldstein, J. M. (1988) Gender differences in the course of schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 684689.Google Scholar
Goldstein, J. M. & Link, B. G. (1988) Gender and the expression of schizophrenia. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 22, 141155.Google Scholar
Goldstein, J. M., Tsuang, M. T. & Faraone, S. V. (1989) Gender and schizophrenia: implications for understanding the heterogeneity of the illness. Psychiatry Research, 28, 243253.Google Scholar
Goldstein, J. M., Faraone, S. V., Chen, N. J., et al (1990a) Sex differences in the familial transmission of schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 819826.Google Scholar
Goldstein, J. M., Santangelo, S. L., Simpson, J. C., et al (1990b) The role of gender in identifying subtypes of schizophrenia: a latent class analytic approach. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 16, 263275.Google Scholar
Gray, P. (1983) Genetics of epilepsy: a review. In Advances in Epileptology 14 (eds M. Parsonage, R. H. E. Grant, A. Craig, et al), pp. 113126. New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Gur, R. E., Mozley, D., Resnick, S. M., et al (1991) Magnetic resonance imaging in schizophrenia–I. Volumetric analysis of brain and cerebrospinal fluid. Archives of General Psychiatry, 48, 407412.Google Scholar
Haas, G. L., Glick, I. D., Clarkin, J. F., et al (1990) Gender and schizophrenia outcome: a clinical trial of an inpatient family intervention. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 16, 277292.Google Scholar
Hafner, H., Riecher, A., Maurer, K., et al (1989) How does gender influence age at first hospitalisation for schizophrenia? A translational case register study. Psychological Medicine, 19, 903918.Google Scholar
Harvey, I., Williams, M., Toone, B. K., et al (1991) The ventricular brain ratio (VBR) in functional psychoses. II: The relationship of lateral ventricular and total intracranial area. Psychological Medicine, 20, 5562.Google Scholar
Huber, G., Gross, G. & Schuttler, R. (1975) A long-term follow-up study of schizophrenia: psychiatric course of illness and prognosis. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 50, 4957.Google Scholar
John, R. S., Mednick, S. A. & Schulsinger, F. (1982) Teacher reports as a predictor of schizophrenia and borderline schizophrenia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 92, 399413.Google Scholar
Kendler, K. & Tsuang, M. T. (1988) Outcome and familial psychopathology in schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 45, 338346.Google Scholar
Kertesz, A., Polk, M., Black, S. E., et al (1990) Sex, handedness and the morphometry of cerebral asymmetries on magnetic resonance imaging. Brain Research, 530, 4048.Google Scholar
Kidd, K. K. (1985) Stuttering as a genetic disorder. In The Nature and Treatment of Stuttering: New Directions (eds R. F. Curlee & W. H. Perkins). Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Lewine, R. J. (1988) Gender and schizophrenia. In Handbook of Schizophrenia, Vol 3 (ed. Nasrallah, H. A.). Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Lewine, R. J., Strauss, J. S. & Gift, T. E. (1981) Sex differences in age at first hospital admission for schizophrenia: fact or artifact? American Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 440444.Google Scholar
Lewine, R. J., Burbach, D. & Meltzer, H. Y. (1984) Effect of diagnostic criteria on the ratio of male to female schizophrenic patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 8487.Google Scholar
Lewis, G., Croft-Jeffries, C. & David, A. (1990) Are British psychiatrists racist? British Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 410415.Google Scholar
Lewis, S. W. (1989) Congenital risk factors for schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine, 19, 513.Google Scholar
Lewis, S. W. (1990) Computerised tomography in schizophrenia 15 years on. British Journal of Psychiatry, 157 (suppl. 9): 1624.Google Scholar
Lewis, S. W. & Mezey, G. C. (1985) Clinical correlates of septum pellucidum cavities: an unusual association with psychosis. Psychological Medicine, 15, 4354.Google Scholar
Marsh, L., Pearlson, G. D., Richards, S. S., et al (1991) Structural brain changes in schizophrenia: MRI replication of a postmortem study. Proceedings of International Congress on Schizophrenia Research, Tuscon, April 21–25.Google Scholar
McGlashan, T. H. & Bardenstein, K. K. (1990) Gender differences in affective, schizoaffective and schizophrenic disorders. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 16, 319326.Google Scholar
Murray, R. M. & Lewis, S. W. (1987) Is schizophrenia a neurodevelopmental disorder? British Medical Journal, 295, 681682.Google Scholar
Nasrallah, H. A., Schwarzkopf, S. B., Olson, S. C., et al (1990) Gender differences in schizophrenia on MRI brain scans. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 16, 205210.Google Scholar
Nyman, A. K. (1989) Nonregressive schizophrenia - a long-term comparative follow-up investigation. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 79, 5973.Google Scholar
Owen, M. J., Lewis, S. W. & Murray, R. M. (1989) Family history and cerebral ventricular enlargement in schizophrenia: a case control study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 629634.Google Scholar
Sartorius, N., Jablensky, A., Korten, A., et al (1986) Early manifestations and first-contact incidence of schizophrenia in different cultures. Psychological Medicine, 16, 609928.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seeman, M. V. & Lang, M. (1990) The role of estrogens in schizophrenia gender differences. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 16, 185195.Google Scholar
Spencer, J. H. Jr., Glick, I. D., Haas, G. L., et al (1988) A randomized clinical trial of inpatient family intervention, III: effects at 6–month and 18–month follow-ups. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 11151121.Google Scholar
Takei, N., O'Callaghan, E., Sham, P., et al (1992) Seasonality of admission rates in the psychoses: effects of diagnosis, sex and age at onset. British Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 506511.Google Scholar
Torrey, E. F., Taylor, E., Bowler, A., et al (1991) Evidence of early brain changes in subgroup of twins with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 4, 285.Google Scholar
Turner, S. W., Toone, B. K. & Brett-Jones, J. R. (1986) Computerized tomographic scan changes in early schizophrenia - preliminary findings. Psychological Medicine, 16, 219225.Google Scholar
Waldron, I. (1983) Sex differences in illness incidence, prognosis and mortality: issues and evidence. Social Science Medicine, 17, 11071123.Google Scholar
Weinberger, D. R. (1987) Implications of normal brain development for the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 660669.Google Scholar
Westlind-Danielsson, A., Gould, E. & McEwen, B. S. (1991) Thyroid hormone causes sexually distinct neurochemical and morphological alterations in rat septal-diagonal band neurons. Journal of Neurochemistry, 56, 119128.Google Scholar
Zeitlin, H. (1986) The Natural History of Psychiatric Disorder in Children. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zito, J. M., Roult, W. W., Mitchell, J. E., et al (1985) Clinical characteristics of hospitalized psychotic patients who refuse antipsychotic drug therapy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 822826.Google ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.