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Birth Seasonality and Schizophrenia

Lewis A. Opler, MD, Phd; Stanley R. Kay, Phd
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1985;42(1):107-107. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1985.01790240109018
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To the Editor.—  We were intrigued by the findings of Watson et al1 regarding schizophrenic birth seasonality, particularly their suggestion that an increase in the number of winter births is demonstrable in schizophrenics with severe process disorder but not in schizophrenics with good prognoses and reactive syndromes. We have arrived at a parallel finding from a different direction, in which we examined the hypothesis, advanced by Andreasen and Olsen,2 that schizophrenics with positive syndromes (eg, a predominance of florid symptoms such as thought disorder, hallucinations, and delusions) and schizophrenics with negative syndromes (eg, a predominance of symptoms such as impoverished speech and thinking, affective flattening, avolition, and anhedonia) represent distinct subtypes. When comparing groups of well-characterized schizophrenics who met our criteria for a positive v negative syndrome, we reported3 that the patients with negative syndromes displayed more primitive cognitive modes on developmental tests and greater psychomotor retardation, despite equivalent

REFERENCES

Watson CG, Kucala T, Tilleskjor C, Jacobs L:  Schizophrenic birth seasonality in relation to the incidence of infectious diseases and temperature extremes . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1984;;41:85-90.
Andreasen NC, Olsen S:  Negative v positive schizophrenia: Definition and validation . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1982;;39:789-794.
Opler LA, Kay SR, Rosado V, et al:  Positive and negative syndromes in chronic schizophrenic inpatients . J Nerv Ment Dis 1984;;172:317-325.
Marcus J, Auerbach J, Wilkinson L, Burack CM:  Infants at high risk for schizophrenia: The Jerusalem infant development study . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1981;;38:703-713.
Parnas J, Schulsinger F, Schulsinger H, Mednick SA, Teasdale TW:  Behavioral precursors of schizophrenia spectrum: A prospective study . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1982;;39:658-664.
Stevens JR:  Neuropathology of schizophrenia . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1982;;39:1131-1139.

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Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature

Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal

Watson CG, Kucala T, Tilleskjor C, Jacobs L:  Schizophrenic birth seasonality in relation to the incidence of infectious diseases and temperature extremes . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1984;;41:85-90.
Andreasen NC, Olsen S:  Negative v positive schizophrenia: Definition and validation . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1982;;39:789-794.
Opler LA, Kay SR, Rosado V, et al:  Positive and negative syndromes in chronic schizophrenic inpatients . J Nerv Ment Dis 1984;;172:317-325.
Marcus J, Auerbach J, Wilkinson L, Burack CM:  Infants at high risk for schizophrenia: The Jerusalem infant development study . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1981;;38:703-713.
Parnas J, Schulsinger F, Schulsinger H, Mednick SA, Teasdale TW:  Behavioral precursors of schizophrenia spectrum: A prospective study . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1982;;39:658-664.
Stevens JR:  Neuropathology of schizophrenia . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1982;;39:1131-1139.

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