Schizophrenics with tardive dyskinesia. Neuropsychological deficit and family psychopathology.

We investigated the role neurologic soft signs, premorbid asociality, psychometric tests, and family history of psychiatric illness may play in the identification of patients at risk for tardive dyskinesia (TD) development. Thirty-two TD and 32 non-TD schizophrenics served as subjects. The results indicated that patients with TD have more soft signs, are more frequently rated as poor premorbid asocials, perform more poorly on psychometric testing, and have a familial loading for affective disorders in first-degree relatives higher than control patients. A discriminant function analysis correctly classified 84.4% of the patients into their respective groups. Subtle yet quantifiable differences exist between TD and non-TD patients and these deficits may render the individual more vulnerable to TD development.