title: The children of psychiatrically disturbed parents: differences as a function of the sex of the sick parent.
abstract: To examine the effects of the sex of psychiatrically disturbed parent on the offspring, we compared children of a schizophrenic parent, a psychiatrically disturbed but not schizophrenic parent, and a normal parent using behavioral, attentional, and neurological indices. Results of a discriminant analysis indicate that children of psychiatrically disturbed mothers have an increased sensitivity to tactile stimulation, possibly reflecting more labile autonomic nervous system functioning. In addition, children with a schizophrenic parent of either sex show evidence of neurological motor dysfunction.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000235:genetics; D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000235:genetics*; D009048:Motor Skills; D010290:Parents; D012306:Risk; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics; D012737:Sex Factors