IQ as a protective factor for subjects at high risk for antisocial behavior.

The current project compared the characteristics of four groups of men from a Danish birth cohort: (a) those at high risk for serious criminal involvement (with severely criminal fathers) who nevertheless succeeded in avoiding criminal behavior; (b) those at high risk who evidenced serious criminal behavior; (c) those at low risk (with noncriminal fathers) who did not evidence criminal behavior; and (d) those at low risk who nevertheless evidenced serious criminal behavior. We examined the possible role of high IQ (as tested by an abbreviated version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) in protecting high-risk men from criminal involvement. As hypothesized, the first group evidenced a mean IQ score that was significantly higher than that of the other risk groups. The results are interpreted in terms of the reinforcing effect of success in the school system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Registered criminality in families with children at high risk for schizophrenia.

Describes a project in which 207 Danish children (mean age 15.1 yrs in 1962) with schizophrenic mothers have been periodically assessed and followed since 1962. 104 children matched in age, whose parents and grandparents had never been psychiatrically hospitalized, served as controls. The number of registered criminal offenses in the Ss, their schizophrenic mothers, and their fathers was found to be higher than for controls. Implications for high-risk research and hypotheses on the relation of schizophrenia and criminality are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)