[Marked life events prior to an acute schizophrenic episode. Comparison of a sample of first admissions with a normal sample (author's transl)].

Brown and Birley demonstrated a triggering effect in schizophrenic disorders for life events. In our study no similar result was found. As many events were discovered in controls as in first admission schizophrenic patients for the two 3-month periods assessed: 1-3 months and 4-6 months prior to onset of an acute episode or prior to interview. But methodology used in this study differs with respect to the periods assessed: Brown and Birley used 3-week periods, we used 3-month periods. Patients as well as controls reported significantly more events for the period immediately prior to the onset or interview. We suppose that neither patients nor controls actually experienced fewer events in the second period but that they remembered more of them for the period nearer to the interview.