Infants at risk for psychopathology: offspring of schizophrenic parents.

The results of research on infants at high risk for schizophrenia (offspring of schizophrenic parents) are reviewed. The findings indicate that high-risk infants are not exposed to greater exogenous stress during the prenatal and perinatal periods, although subsequent caregiving provided by disturbed mothers may be nonoptimal. Several findings point to the existence of a constitutionally vulnerable subgroup of high-risk infants. Fetal and neonatal deaths, unrelated to obstetrical complications, may be more common among high-risk offspring, and neuromotor abnormalities are apparent in a subgroup of high-risk subjects across the life span. Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that offspring of schizophrenics are uniquely susceptible to obstetrical complications when they occur: Neuromotor deficits and other developmental deviations show a greater relationship with obstetrical complications among high-risk infants than controls. Taken together, the results lend support to the validity of interactional models of the etiology of schizophrenia and suggest that preventive intervention may be a realistic goal.