Are Schizophreniform Symptoms Present in Attenuated Form in Children with Tourette Disorder and Other Developmental Disorders

Abstract

Childhood schizophrenia ia an increasingly difficult disorder to identify. We review the DSM-III criteria for schizophrenia and raise the possibility that schizophreniform symptoms may be present in children with Tourette disorder to identify. We review the DSM-III criteria for seen in Tourette disorder that resemble the symptoms of schizophrenia are discussed and data from selected patients are presented. This data is presented to assist clinicians in making more appropriate diagnoses (that is, avoiding the incorrect diagnosis of schizophrenia) and in refining distinctions between the symptoms of schizophrenia seen in childhood and similar symptoms seen in other developmental disorders, especially Tourette disorder.