Governments around the world have given priority to "early intervention", i.e. the early diagnosis and treatment of young adults with psychotic symptoms.

One of the main problems with this approach, is that only a small proportion of these young adults can be expected to go on to develop schizophrenia, yet all the treatment regimes are derived from work with adults who have had full psychotic episodes.

Why Does Schizophrenia Develop at Late Adolescence? proposes a controversial new model of how schizophrenia develops in late adolescence and presents clinical material aimed at influencing the way psychosis is treated, building on a state-of-the-art reassessment of the field.

• A major reconceptualisation of how schizophrenia develops
• A controversial approach
• Early intervention programmes are now extremely widespread, so there is much interest in the area and how best to treat this serious psychotic disorder

   

Chris Harrop is the author of Why Does Schizophrenia Develop at Late Adolescence?: A Cognitive-Developmental Approach to Psychosis, published by Wiley.

Peter Trower is the author of Why Does Schizophrenia Develop at Late Adolescence?: A Cognitive-Developmental Approach to Psychosis, published by Wiley.