IQ scores among homeless older adolescents: characteristics of intellectual performance and associations with psychosocial functioning PAUL ROHDE,JOHN NOELL AND LINDA OCHS Intellectual performance and the associations of IQ with the quality of psychosocial functioning were studied in a sample of homeless older adolescents. Fifty homeless older adolescents (ages 16±21) completed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence ScaleÐ Revised (WAIS-R) and a questionnaire assessing psychosocial functioning and sexual risk factors. The WAIS-R scores were comparable to population means, with performance IQ scores tending to be higher than verbal IQ scores. The IQ was unrelated to the duration of homelessness. Higher IQ scores were signi®cantly correlated with only a minority of the measures of psychosocial functioning, including less self-reported depression and lower reported delinquency, but also less self-control in high-risk sexual situations, less perceived peer support for safer sex, and a higher perceived likelihood of acquiring HIV. # 1999 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents Introduction Intelligence tests are designed to measure major mental abilities and, more broadly, aim to assess an individual's potential for purposeful and useful behavior by comparing the performance of a person to scores attained by representative members of his or her age group (Wechsler, 1981). In the present study, we examine the characteristics of intelligence test scores and their correlates in a high risk, but understudied population: homeless older adolescents. Over one million children and adolescents in the U.S. are thought to be homeless (Robertson, 1992). Homeless adolescents often come from backgrounds of severe emotional deprivation and abuse (Powers et al., 1990) and experience high rates of mental health problems and drug abuse (Shaffer and Caton, 1984), criminal activity (McCarthy and Hagan, 1992), early pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) (Rotheram-Borus et al., 1991), and learning dif®culties and impaired academic performance (Arnold and Braband, 1977; Shaffer and Caton, 1984; Barwick and Siegel, 1996). The future work performance of homeless young people is often poor (Warheit and Biafoa, 1991). Clearly, this population warrants increased study and service provision. The ®rst goal of the present study was to provide preliminary descriptive information about the characteristics of intellectual performance in a sample of homeless older adolescents, as evaluated by the standard measure of adult intelligence, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence ScaleÐRevised (WAIS-R; Wechsler, 1981). Previous research on the intellectual performance of homeless adolescents is limited, although homeless children, especially younger children, have been shown to exhibit intellectual delays (e.g. Whitman et al., 1990; Rescorla et al., 1991). Contrary to research conducted in the U.S., homeless Reprint requests and correspondence should be addressed to P. Rohde, Oregon Research Institute, 1715 Franklin Blvd., Eugene, OR 97403-1983, U.S.A. 0140-1971/99/030319+10$30Á00/0 # 1999 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents Journal of Adolescence 1999, 22, 319±328 Article No. jado.1999.0224, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on