OBJECTIVE:

The authors tested whether early prenatal exposure to famine was associated with schizophrenia spectrum personality disorder in addition to being associated with schizophrenia per se as shown in a previous study.

METHOD:

The risk of schizoid personality disorder, as defined by ICD-6 to ICD-9, in men at age 18 years was compared in birth cohorts that were conceived at the height of the Dutch Hunger Winter famine and in unexposed birth cohorts of 1944-1946 in the famine region of Holland.

RESULTS:

The exposed cohort had a significantly greater risk (relative risk = 2.01) of schizoid personality disorder.

CONCLUSIONS:

Prenatal nutritional deficiency was associated with a greater risk of schizoid personality disorder in men at age 18 years.