Relatedness of schizotypal to schizophrenic disorders: editors' introduction

The schizotypal personality category introduced in DSM-III reflects an initial effort to organize psychiatric diagnosis on a biogenetic basis. The schizotypal diagnosis is intended to reflect a genetic association with schizophrenia. One result of this inclusion has been to stimulate a growing body of evidence about its validity--evidence that is reviewed in this issue by Kendler, Torgersen, Siever, and Stone. These studies suggest that criteria which emphasize interpersonal and social trait disabilities are more specific to a schizotype than criteria which stress psychotic-like symptoms. As a result, we suggest that future research on this patient group should broaden its criteria base. However, even if revisions increase the biogenetic specificity of this category, we believe its treatment will remain unclear, and models for its pathogenesis and relationship to schizophrenia will need to remain complex.