This study assessed premorbid functioning in 40 male, Caucasian schizophrenics, on the abbreviated Phillips Premorbid Adjustment Scale. Subjects with poorer premorbid adjustment tended to be process rather than reactive (p less than .01), early in age of onset (p less than .01), and neurologically impaired (p less than .01). Neurological impairment as a predisposing factor in early social incompetence was suggested after it was found that the subset of process vs. reactive, age of onset, and neurological impairment accounted for 46% of the variance in Phillips scores.