Parents of abused children in Greece: Psychiatric and psychological characteristics: Results of a pilot study

The psychological and psychiatric characteristics of the parents of 15 abused children were studied by means of clinical psychiatric evaluation and psychological tests (MMPI, Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire, Navran's Dependency Scale, Rosenweig's Picture Frustration Test, WAIS). It was found that almost all the parents were suffering from some type of personality disorder ranging from mild to severe with some features of anxiety and reactive depression. Three of the parents (two mothers and one father) were psychotic. The psychological assessment further demonstrated that most of the parents had low IQ scores, were immature, impulsive with strong dependency needs, low tolerance to frustration and high hostility scores. Most of the parents were coming from the lower socioeconomic groups, had poor education, were deprived in their childhood and their own families were broken and chaotic. The findings and the significance of the study are presented in the light of the absence of previous research in this field in Greece.