Premorbid social competence and the effectiveness of early neuroleptic treatment

The relationship of premorbid social competence to early psychotic symptom resolution was examined in 84 (44 male, 40 female) acutely psychotic inpatients given fixed-dose neuroleptic treatment. Patients with a substantial reduction in psychotic symptomatology at 10 days had higher overall social competence scores and higher scores on the indices of occupation, marital status, age, and employment history than did patients with little symptom resolution. Sex and diagnosis were not related to degree of psychotic symptom resolution. The results suggest that early symptom resolution with neuroleptic treatment represents yet another instance of outcome being related to premorbid social competence. The findings likewise accord with the view that social competence reflects underlying developmental differences.