Clinical and cognitive correlates of formal thought disorder in early onset schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE Although formal thought disorder and cognitive impairment are key features of schizophrenia, only a few studies evaluated both in adolescent population. METHOD 32 inpatients with early-onset schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) and 32 matched healthy controls were studied with Thought, Language and Communication Scale and battery of neurocognitive tests and SSD subjects were also assessed with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Clinical Global Impression Scale. RESULTS Patients presented impairment in both cognitive functioning and formal thought processes. Communication disturbances correlated with executive and verbal fluency dysfunction. CONCLUSION Communication disturbances in adolescent SSD patients may have both dysexecutive and dyssemantic origin.