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A New Classification for the Psychoses?
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| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings. |
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Kendler et al1 have used latent class analysis to reclassify the psychoses into new categories that differ from those originally provided by Emil Kraepelin and those presently designated in DSM-IV. Since psychosis is heterogeneous in symptom expression, course, and outcome, and since there are no specific biologic markers, we are continually on a quest to subdivide them into more homogeneous, presumably etiologic, subgroups. However, it is unclear whether Kendler's system provides the definitive answers.
Because schizophrenia has a strong genetic vulnerability, one way to validate a classification system would be to examine its pattern of inheritance. Significantly, less variance within families for these new categories compared with the interfamilial variance would confirm that these new categories are valid. However, despite the fact that these investigators are known to have families with multiple ill members, they fail to report this important relationship.
What they do provide are prevalences of DSM-III . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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