A summary of attentional findings in the New York High-Risk Project

Abstract

We summarize here our findings with respect to attentional impairment among offspring of schizophrenic, affectively ill, and normal parents followed from childhood to adulthood during the two decades of the New York High-Risk Project (NYHRP). We review our data first, on childhood attentional performance in each of our two independent samples of such subjects and, second, on the relationship of early dysfunctions observed in this domain to psychopathological outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. Our cumulative results contribute strong support to the contention that global attentional dysfunctions may be viewed as a biobehavioral marker for the genetic liability to schizophrenic disorders.