Intelligence and personality profile of battering parents in Greece: a comparative study

Studies on parental intelligence and personality characteristics of battering parents are often contradictory. This research is part of a large project on child abuse and neglect in Athens aiming at identifying abusing families and studying the characteristics of parents, children, siblings, as well as welfare and legal issues. Thirty-three battering parents (17 mothers and 16 fathers) and 33 matched controls were investigated with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and Cattell's 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF). The mean age of fathers was 39.9 and of mothers 29.1 years. They belonged primarily to the low socioeconomic class. No difference was found in the I.Q.s of battering fathers compared to controls while battering mothers' general, verbal and performance I.Q.s were significantly lower than those of the control group as well as of battering fathers' I.Q.s. Battering mothers were found significantly more shy, restrained, timid and threat-sensitive (Factor H of the 16 PF), and undisciplined, self-conflicted, following own urges (Factor Q3 of the 16 PF) than the control mothers. Factor H also was found to differentiate significantly between battering and control fathers but in the opposite direction than that of mothers. The above results are discussed and interpreted within the context of Greek cultural characteristics and intercultural comparisons.