Recovery rate at 2 years follow-up tends to

• A. be relatively stable over time
• B. decline prior to full psychosis, relatively stable over time
• C. increase over time
• D. fluctuate

Answer: (B)

The pattern to understand is how recovery changes as psychosis develops and then how it behaves after onset. In many longitudinal studies, functioning begins to worsen during the prodromal period as subthreshold symptoms accumulate, so the likelihood of recovery declines before full psychosis emerges. Once full psychosis has developed, the course tends to settle into a more stable pattern rather than continuing to deteriorate or progressively improve. In other words, you see a drop in recovery rate as people move toward full psychosis, followed by relatively stable recovery rates over the ensuing years. This explains why, at two years of follow-up, the typical trajectory is a decline before onset and then stability afterward.