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The intelligence of parents of psychotic children

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Abstract

A study describing the intellectual level of parents of psychotic children in residential treatment at the Ittleson Center is presented and discussed. A sample of 48 mothers yielded a mean FIQ of 109.2, while that of 43 fathers a mean FIQ of 116.3. The Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence scores for the total group ranged from a low of 65 to a high of 135. Although the IQ and social class distribution reflected a high proportion of bright parents and upper class parents there was substantial representation of parents with average and below average IQs and of parents from middle and lower classes. It is suggested that these findings indicate that parents of psychotic children are not exclusively of superior intelligence. The question is raised whether any meaningful relationship exists between parental intelligence and childhood psychosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Henry Ittleson Center for Child Research, 5050 Iselin Avenue, 10471, Riverdale, New York

    Judy Florsheim & Oriole Peterfreund

Authors
  1. Judy Florsheim
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  2. Oriole Peterfreund
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Additional information

This paper constitutes a part of the Childhood Schizophrenia Project of the Henry Ittleson Center for Child Research under support of the Ittleson Family Foundation and NIMH Grant No. MH 05753-12. The authors wish to acknowledge with thanks the helpful assistance of Drs. William Goldfarb and Nathan Goldfarb.

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Florsheim, J., Peterfreund, O. The intelligence of parents of psychotic children. J Autism Dev Disord 4, 61–70 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02105000

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