[Characteristics of communication of schizophrenic, neurotic, and healthy adolescents]

Research on communication skills in psychotic patients demonstrates that in dialogues schizophrenics neglect the needs of the listener. There are only few linguistic studies which investigate the speech of schizophrenic children and adolescents. The verbal and non-verbal communication of schizophrenic, neurotic, and healthy adolescents during a problem solving situation was transcribed and compared by a content analysis. The transcripts were screened for dialogue control and communication disturbance of verbal/non-verbal activities of the speaker and listener: Dialogue control was defined by the variables signals of the speaker or signals of hearer and eye or body contact of the test person to the experimenter. Communication disturbance was defined as the amount of incomprehensible articulation and selections. Neurotic test persons produce the highest signals of speaker rate. In dialogues with neurotic and schizophrenic test persons the experimenter uses more signals of hearer than in dialogues with healthy test persons. In dialogues with neurotic test persons the experimenter shows more signals of the speaker than in dialogues with healthy test persons. Schizophrenics neglect more often the statements of the experimenter than in other dialogues and vice versa. Although the experimenter was instructed to restricted verbal behavior the communication intensified in the neurotic group. The communication in the schizophrenic group was characterized by frequent communication disturbance.