Sex differences in psychosis: normal or pathological?

BACKGROUND Schizophrenia first appears in adolescence, in boys at an earlier age than girls. The interpretation of this key epidemiological finding crucially depends on whether similar age-related sex differences exist in the expression of associated, subclinical psychosis-like experiences. METHODS Findings are based on a population sample of 2548 adolescents and young adults aged 17-28. Subjects were assessed with the core psychosis sections on delusions and hallucinations of the Munich-Composite International Diagnostic Interview. RESULTS The risk of subclinical psychotic experiences was significantly higher for males in the younger half of the cohort (17-21 years), but similar in the older half (22-28 years). CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that normal maturational changes in adolescence with differential age of onset in boys and girls cause the expression of psychosis, the extreme of which is schizophrenia.