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The “sick but slick” syndrome as a personality component of parents of battered children
Author(s) -
Wright Logan
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(197601)32:1<41::aid-jclp2270320110>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - psychology , personality , clinical psychology , poison control , injury prevention , suicide prevention , human factors and ergonomics , personality disorders , sick child , psychiatry , child abuse , developmental psychology , medical emergency , social psychology , medicine , pediatrics
Thirteen parents convicted in court of battering their children and 13 matched controls were administered a battery of personality tests, with significant differences obtained on 5 of 21 study variables. Battering parents appeared healthier on those instruments based on content validity, where the social desirability of the items is more obvious. They appeared more disturbed (i.e., psychopathic) on items based on concurrent or statistical validity. It was concluded that battering parents were psychopathically disturbed, but whenever possible presented a distorted picture of themselves as healthy and unlikely to abuse their children. This tendency has been labeled the "sick but slick syndrome."