TREATMENT IMPLICATIONS OF A NEW CLASSIFICATION OF PARENTS OF SCHIZOPHRENIC CHILDREN

This paper reports a study of 40 parents of outpatient and 40 parents of inpatient state hospital schizophrenic children. Despite a similar core pathology, the parents of schizophrenic children demonstrated major differences in their personality supper-structure. The differences in occupation range from competent college professor to the transient and unskilled worker. Some are highly successful. Some are hampered in their achievements, and suffer illnesses such as asthma, and some are hospitalized schizophrenics. We were able to describe and classify these 80 parents according to their manifest personality structure within 4 categories. These are pseudoneurotic, somatic, pseudodelinquent, and psychotic. Although treatment is directed toward the similar core pathology in all the parents, we discuss the major differences in treatment and management techniques required in each of these types.