CHILDHOOD-ONSET SCHIZOPHRENIA STUDY

Ongoing Study at NIMH:

Childhood-onset schizophrenia is a rare form of schizophrenia which has its onset before the 13th birthday. The Child Psychiatry Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health is recruiting such children nationally because of the importance of understanding the treatment, diagnosis, and genetic basis for this disorder. We are interested in seeing children who are responders as well as non-responders to current treatments. Children and their families are brought to the NIH Clinical Center at our expense for an intensive diagnostic evaluation and, when appropriate, trials of new treatments. 

Click here to complete an application to the study.

Criteria:

• Boys and girls 6-18 years old
• Onset of psychotic symptoms before the 13th birthday
• IQ above 70 (pre-psychotic)
• Compliant family

Benefits:

• Evaluation by a team which has seen more psychotic children than almost any other research facility in the country
• Recommendations by our psychiatrists, social worker, nurses, teachers, occupational and recreational therapists for future treatment
• All treatment is free; housing and transportation are provided to those living at a distance
• Opportunities for a drug-free washout trial for children who participate in our medication trial.

Additional Information:

Across all of medicine, the study of very early onset of a disorder has helped us understand the more common later onset illness.

Many ill children report hearing voices; however, children with childhood-onset schizophrenia report chronic auditory hallucinations (which are not used in an attempt to get out of trouble)

Contact:

For more information, contact:

Diane Dillard Broadax, LICSW
Building 10, Room 3N202
10 Center Drive, MSC 1600
Bethesda, MD 20892-1600
Phone: 301-496-7962
Fax: 301-402-0296
diane.dillard-broadnax@nih.gov

Campus Accomodation:
For more information about the NIH Children’s Inn
go to: http://www.childrensinn.org