Children of psychotic mothers. Performance of 3-year-old children on tests of attention.
Children of mentally ill mothers (N = 21), believed to be at risk for the subsequent development of psychopathology (high-risk group) were compared with children of well mothers (N = 21)(low-risk group) on the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT). Results indicated that children in the high-risk group perform less well than low-risk children on the EFT (particularly on the more difficult stimuli), but do not differ from low-risk children on the PPVT. These results are interpreted as showing greater impairment of attention among children of mentally ill mothers than among children of well mothers.
D001288:Attention; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000235:genetics; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D003193:Compulsive Personality Disorder / Q000235:genetics; D003863:Depression / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D011386:Projective Techniques; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000235:genetics*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012306:Risk; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics