[Positive Psychotic Symptoms in Childhood and Adolescence]

In both classification systems, DSM-5 and ICD-11, the diagnostic criteria of schizophreniaspectrum disorders in minors are identical to those of adults. Nevertheless, recent studies have emphasized important differences in phenomenology and clinical impact of positive psychotic symptoms between children, adolescents and young adults. Among positive psychotic symptoms, hallucinations have a high prevalence in childhood, where they are often described as vivid, multisensory experiences, that mostly remit spontaneously. In children, these symptoms are not necessarily associated with the emergence of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. However, they can indicate comorbid psychiatric disorders and cause significant stress or, in other cases, be transient symptoms without any significant pathological value. The article provides a review on recent epidemiological and phenomenological findings on positive psychotic symptoms in children and adolescents and proposes diagnostic and therapeutic strategies on the management of these symptoms in minors.