The origins and usage of the term “schizoid personality” have been briefly traced. The validity of regarding it as a common precursor to schizophrenia has been examined in the light of those published longitudinal studies of adult patients with schizophrenia, on whom information had been collected during their childhood. It was concluded that the evidence linking the schizoid personality with schizophrenia was tenuous and that more adequate studies were necessary to determine the premorbid nature of adult persons who develop schizophrenia.
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