Psychotic disorders diagnosed in adolescence. Outcome at age 30 years.

Fifty-five cases who had been diagnosed in adolescence as suffering from a psychotic condition while attending a child or adult psychiatric clinic were compared with age-, sex- and school-matched cases with respect to various outcome measures at age 30 years. Overall, the outcome for young people who need psychiatric care for psychotic conditions in adolescence appears to be gloomy with respect to psychosocial adjustment. There were clear differences in outcome depending on specific psychosis diagnosis category at the time of original diagnosis. Females tended to have better outcome than males, but differences were small and not conclusive in this respect.