Schizoid personality disorder after prenatal exposure to famine.

OBJECTIVE

The authors tested whether early prenatal exposure to famine was associated with schizophrenia spectrum personality disorder in addition to being associated with schizophrenia per se as shown in a previous study.

METHOD

The risk of schizoid personality disorder, as defined by ICD-6 to ICD-9, in men at age 18 years was compared in birth cohorts that were conceived at the height of the Dutch Hunger Winter famine and in unexposed birth cohorts of 1944-1946 in the famine region of Holland.

RESULTS

The exposed cohort had a significantly greater risk (relative risk = 2.01) of schizoid personality disorder.

CONCLUSIONS

Prenatal nutritional deficiency was associated with a greater risk of schizoid personality disorder in men at age 18 years.