A new analysis of data from a large international consortium indicates that social and academic difficulties often arise years before the onset of recognizable clinical symptoms in young people at risk for psychosis. The findings suggest that these functional declines, particularly in social settings, may serve as early warning signs that precede the hallucinations or delusions typically associated with the condition. This research was published in Schizophrenia Bulletin. The primary method for identifying individuals at Clinical High Risk (CHR) for psychosis currently relies on the presence of attenuated psychotic symptoms. These include experiences such as perceptual abnormalities, hearing indistinct whispers, or harboring heightened suspiciousness. While these symptoms are diagnostic markers, they often emerge after a young person has already begun to struggle with daily life. Previous smaller studies, largely conducted in North America, indicated that problems with peer relationships and school performance frequently predate the clinical diagnosis. The scientific community needed to determine if these patterns held true across diverse cultures and if they were specifically linked to negative symptoms or cognitive deficits. Negative symptoms …