Exophenotypical profile of adolescents with sustained attention deficit: A 10-year follow-up study

We aimed to explore prospectively the relationship between the presence of sustained attention deficit (SAD) in early adolescence and exophenotypical measures of vulnerability to schizophrenia spectrum disorders (personality and psychosocial measures) in early adulthood. Two cohorts of community adolescents were selected in 1993 according to the presence or absence of a CPT-linked SAD. In 2003, both cohorts (Index: n = 42, and Control: n = 38) were administered the O-LIFE, the SCID-II, the DOI battery and the COPE scale, among other tests. T-tests were used to compare both cohorts. Index subjects showed a higher level of negative schizotypy, avoidant, depressive and narcissistic personality traits, as well as more asocial behavior and poorer use of coping resources than Control subjects did. A SAD in early adolescence may be associated with coping and social deficits, negative schizotypy, and personality traits indicative of emotional disturbance in adulthood. Our results suggest that SAD in early adolescence might be an indicator of psychopathology in adulthood and give support to dimensional models of psychopathology.