Perinatal complications in adopted and non‐adopted schizophrenics and their controls: Preliminary results

Abstract

Pregnancy and birth complications (PBCs) noted in midwife reports recorded at the time of birth were compared in 34 adopted schizophrenics and their matched controls, and in 29 matched pairs of nonadopted schizophrenics and controls. Subjects were matched for sex, age, and social class of the rearing parents. Overall PBC scores were higher for schizophrenics than controls in both adopted and nonadopted subsamples, and the difference between schizophrenics and controls was statistically highly significant when pooled samples of schizophrenics and controls were compared. Long labor was the particular complication that most clearly distinguished schizophrenics and controls, being much more frequent for schizophrenics.