Numerous studies have found that male schizophrenic patients have earlier ages at onset than females. However, none of these studies have corrected the observed ages for known gender differences in the age distribution of the population. Using a pre-existing data set, we applied a non-parametric method to correct the male and female distributions of observed age at onset for sex-specific age distributions. The distributions of observed age at onset indicated earlier onset among males. After correction, the age-at-onset distributions shifted toward older ages, but the difference between males and females remained statistically significant. Thus, gender differences in the age at onset of schizophrenia are not artefactual.

The purpose of this study was to test the effect of gender on the familial risk for schizophrenia and affective disorders in probands with schizoaffective disorder. The sample consisted of 42 DSM–III schizoaffective probands and 149 first-degree relatives from the retrospective cohort family studies, the Iowa 500 and non-500. Survival analysis estimated differences in morbidity risks, analysed by sex of proband and of relative. Findings showed that, among probands, relatives of females had significantly higher rates of schizophrenia and unipolar disorder than relatives of males. Further, among relatives, males were at significantly higher risk for schizophrenia spectrum disorders than females. Results were similar when probands were subdivided into their primary symptom patterns, that is ‘mainly schizophrenic’ or ‘mainly affective’, as well as by ‘schizoaffective, depressed’ or ‘schizoaffective, manic’. Implications for the taxonomy of schizoaffective disorder suggest a stronger relationship with schizophrenia, although the relationship with affective disorder remains unclear.

The hypothesis that schizophrenic men have a lower familial risk for schizophrenia than schizophrenic women was tested using the DSM–III-diagnosed samples of the Iowa 500 and non-500 family studies. Survival analyses were used to test for differences in the risk for schizophrenia and spectrum disorders, for sex of proband and sex of relative, controlled for fertility effects and ascertainment bias. Male and female relatives of schizophrenic men had a significantly lower risk for schizophrenia, schizophreniform, and schizoaffective disorders than relatives of schizophrenic women. However, the effect was not significant for the full spectrum nor when analysed by sex of relative. Sex differences in the risk for other psychiatric disorders among relatives of schizophrenic probands were not significant.

This study tested the hypothesis that schizophrenic men experience a poorer course than schizophrenic women. A representative sample from Hannover, FRG, including 278 first admission DSM-III schizophrenics, were followed for three years. Findings demonstrated that schizophrenic women experience fewer rehospitalizations, shorter lengths of stay, and survive longer in the community than schizophrenic men. Implications of the role of gender for schizophrenia are discussed.

This study examined the relationship between patient's gender and family environment, and the consequences of this for the course of treatment of schizophrenia. Data for 160 DSM-III schizophrenics and a family member were obtained regarding attitudes towards treatment, tolerance of symptomatic deviance, and one-year rehospitalization and lengths of hospital stay. Findings suggest that ill sons may be sent to hospital more often and remain in hospital longer than ill daughters, in part due to social norms and expectations of parents associated with gender.

The question of where to place the chronically mentally disabled in the community is essential in this era of brief hospitalization practices. This report examines the effects of the social conditions of the environment on the length of stay in the community for a sample of 119 multiple admission schizophrenics in New York City. Patients returned to a variety of family and non-family living arrangements in poor and depressed areas of the city. The relationship between characteristics of the living arrangements and the patients' clinical functioning and rate of rehospitalization was examined. The findings show that there is no significant differential effect of the type of living arrangement on rehospitalization or clinical functioning, and that these factors did not contribute significantly to the prediction of successful adjustment. However, the socio-emotional characteristics of the environment - i.e. social support and interpersonal stress - together are stronger predictors of outcome than are available out-patient treatment programmes. The findings emphasize the importance of environmental variables as factors independent of the effect of treatment on rehospitalization.