THOUGHT-DISORDER IN CHILDHOOD

Objective: This paper delineates the evolution of the concept of thought disorder and presents a developmental/neurobehavioral theory of the main components of formal thought disorder in childhood-onset schizophrenia. Method: A review of past and recent clinical, cognitive, and linguistic studies of thought disorder in childhood-onset schizophrenia presents the main features and changes in the thought disorder concept. Results: The review emphasizes that, in the past, this term was used to describe a variety of clinical manifestations in a heterogenous group of children because of the lack of distinction between childhood schizophrenia and infantile autism. The studies that have been conducted during the past 15 years, however, have demonstrated well-defined clinical components of thought disorder and their cognitive/information processing, linguistic/pragmatic, and biological correlates. Conclusions: A functional conceptualization of formal thought disorder in childhood-onset schizophrenia is presented in light of the theoretical and clinical implications of the reviewed studies.