VOL.13. NO. 3,1987 Emory University Project on Children of Disturbed Parents by Sherryl H. Goodman Abstract Young children (from birth to 5 years of age) of schizophrenic, de- pressed, and well mothers were studied to assess their intellectual, social, and neuropsychiatric func- tioning. The sample derived from predominantly black, low-income, single-parent families. An extensive battery of laboratory and home- based tests was administered three times, each 1 year apart, to test the stability of findings. Schizophrenic offspring, as a group, had more problems than others. They showed more deficits on social competence, had lower IQ's (the youngest chil- dren only), and were overrepre- sented in the group of children with multiple negative indices. How- ever, both schizophrenic offspring and depressive offspring sometimes performed more poorly than chil- dren with well mothers (presence of symptoms of psychiatric disorder and certain categories of social be- havior). In certain instances, the children of depressed mothers were worse off than either other group (small for age and showing less so- cial competence at home). Deficits were found in the child-rearing en- vironment provided by the dis- turbed mothers. Both schizophrenic and depressed mothers were rated as less affectively involved and less responsive than well mothers. Schizophrenic mothers were rated as providing the poorest overall en- vironment: less play stimulation, fewer learning experiences, and less emotional and verbal involvement. The following possible protective factors were identified in the mothers: lesser severity of illness, older age, higher education, higher IQ, work experience, and presence of spouse, boyfriend, or other rela- tive to help in child care. The Emory University Project on Children of Disturbed Parents was designed (1) to provide descriptive data on the characteristics of young children (from birth to 5 years of age) of schizophrenic and depressed mothers, and (2) to test the effective- ness of a research-based model of preventive intervention. Preliminary reports on the preventive interven- tion are available (Goodman 1984a, 1984b) and will not be discussed here. Data included in the descrip- tive study were either collected be- fore interventions or from families in control groups receiving no interventions. Whereas most high-risk studies attempt to identify vulnerable chil- dren and the precursors of schizo- phrenia, the present study focused on (1) describing any unique aspects of intellectual and social function- ing, both problematic and adaptive, of children with schizophrenic mothers relative to others (offspring of depressives and normals); (2) de- scribing any unique aspects of the child-rearing environment of schizo- phrenic mothers; and (3) determin- ing the linkages among parental diagnosis, other characteristics of the disturbed mother's functioning, child-rearing environment, and child functioning. Several factors contributed to our decision to study children between birth and 5 years: (1) The emphasis of the research was on describing the children and identifying specific differences between offspring of schizophrenics and others. (2) The research was conducted as part of a primary prevention study, for which early detection and intervention at Reprint requests should be sent to Dr. S. H. Goodman, Department of Psychol- ogy, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322.