Sustained attention deficit in young schizophrenic and schizotypic men.

We studied groups of 39 schizophrenic subjects, 35 schizotypic subjects, and 33 control subjects, comparing them on a standard sustained attention task called the Continuous Performance Test (identical pairs version). The expected negative relationship between performance on sustained attention and psychopathology was confirmed by differences among the three groups which were in the direction predicted, although only the difference between the schizophrenic group and the other two groups was significant. This finding adds evidence to the view from research on high risk and attention with schizophrenic subjects that subtle attention deficits are present among subjects within the schizophrenia spectrum. Consequently, our results can be understood as supporting a dimensional theory of psychopathology.