Intellective characteristics of mothers of failure-to-thrive syndrome children.

The intelligence levels of three groups of mothers were ascertained by the vocabulary test of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Eight mothers having children diagnosed as failure-to-thrive due to non-organic reasons (FTT-E), eight mothers with children diagnosed as failure-to-thrive due to physically traceable reasons (FTT-O), and eight mothers with children hospitalized due to reasons other than failure-to-thrive (C), were contrasted on intelligence, age, education and the presence or absence of the father in the home. Hypotheses regarding a disadvantage of FTT-E mothers on the four variables were supported. Implications of the results were discussed regarding programmes dealing with failure-to-thrive children and mothers. Further investigation in this area was proposed.