Chapter 18.Early-Onset Schizophrenia
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Excerpt
Schizophrenia, a neurodevelopmental disorder that most often manifests in late adolescence or early adulthood, causes significant disturbances in perception, emotion, cognitive function, and social relatedness. Early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) is a less common form of the illness, defined as onset before age 18 years. Childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) refers to the rare occurrences of onset before age 13 years. Both COS and EOS are considered to be continuous with adult-onset schizophrenia (AOS) because all three have related clinical features and neurobiological abnormalities, but youth incidence is further affected by unique developmental and social challenges. In this chapter, we describe schizophrenia in children and adolescents, including its history, epidemiology, etiology, genetic contributions, and clinical presentation. We place special emphasis on EOS and the neurodevelopmental effect of illness across the life span. Current research highlighting effective psychosocial and pharmacological interventions is then reviewed, including clinical recommendations to help guide effective and comprehensive care for youth with schizophrenia and related disorders.
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