Psychological aspects of a sex chromatin abnormality

Abstract

A sample of 147 special security patients with no demonstrated chromosome abnormality, and with no evidence of brain damage or psychosis, was compared with two groups of genetically abnormal patients, evincing an XXY or XYY chromosome pattern. The XXY patients were significantly lower in verbal and performance ability than were the patients in the other two groups. They were also more defensive in answering a personality questionnaire, but this was shown to be partly a function of their lower intelligence. Both of the genetically abnormal groups contained a higher proportion of subjects with significantly depressed verbal abilities than in the control group, though the trend was similar for all three groups. Approximately two-thirds of both genetically abnormal groups committed some form of sex crime. It was suggested that this might indicate a specific genetic-based lag in mental aspects of sexual maturation in addition to the already demonstrated general social instability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)