WAIS-R patterns in schizophrenia

While there have been many investigations of patterns of intellectual deficits in schizophrenia as measured by the Wechsler-Bellevue and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, few have been conducted using the more current Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R). In addition, earlier studies did not employ standardized diagnostic criteria in their subject selection. The present study examined WAIS-R performances of 76 DSM III-diagnosed chronic schizophrenic patients using both univariate and multivariate procedures. The results showed that Verbal IQ was significantly higher than Performance IQ. The variability in Verbal IQ among the schizophrenic range was within the expected range for the normal population, whereas the Performance IQ scores were uniformly lower in the schizophrenic patients than those of the age-matched standardization group. No strong correlations or clusters were found between psychiatric symptom ratings, demographic variables, handedness, or DSM III subtype of schizophrenia. Prospective studies of children at high risk for developing schizophrenia are needed to determine whether this pattern predates the onset of the illness or reflects differential deficits which result from schizophrenia.