Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

1969, Vol. 33, No. S, 575-581

PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF PARENTS OF

NEUROTIC, AGGRESSIVE, AND NORMAL
PREADOLESCENT BOYS1
LORNA M. ANDERSON2
University of Minnesota
MMPI's of parents of neurotic, aggressive, and normal 9- to 11-year-old boys
were compared, using two of Achenbach's factors for classification of child
psychiatric patients. Twenty-three couples, parents of aggressive boys, were
more deviant than 29 couples, parents of neurotic boys. Experimental parents
were more deviant than SO control couples, parents of normal boys. Fathers
of aggressive boys were higher on Pd than either fathers of neurotic or control
boys. Fathers of neurotic boys were higher on K. Mothers of aggressive boys
had more low point Mf. More neurotic boys were oldest and more aggressive
boys middle children.

Interest in parent personality patterns associated with behavior problems in children has
increased as diagnosticians and therapists
have tried to understand and treat other
family members who may contribute to emotional disorders in children. Although there
is considerable research involving parents and
children, Butcher (1969) points out that
most studies dealing with whole families have
not been well controlled for important S variables. In addition, not many studies are comparable because of the wide variety of research methods used. Some conclusions can
be drawn, however. Parents of disturbed
children are more disturbed than nonclinic
parents, but less deviant than psychiatrically
disturbed adults. One of the most specific
findings is that there appears to be a strong
relationship between aggressive, openly punitive parental behavior and childhood aggression, particularly in father-son relationships.
For example, Butcher (1966) found fathers
of adolescent aggressive boys had significantly
l

This investigation was supported by a Public

Health Service Fellowship, No. 1 Fl MH-2S, 347-01,
from the National Institute of Mental Health. It is
based on a dissertation, summitted March 1968, to
the Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for a PhD degree. The author wishes to acknowledge
the continued guidance, valuable suggestions, and
editorial assistance received from James N. Butcher.
2
Requests for reprints should be sent to Lorna
M. Anderson, who is now at the Child Psychiatry
Department, St. Paul-Ramsey Hospital, Saint Paul,
Minnesota 5S101.

higher elevations on the Pd scale of the

MMPI.
A major problem in "whole family" research is that of classifying Ss in some meaningful way. One method of study is to categorize the children according to symptoms,
traditional psychiatric diagnoses, or some
other criteria, and then examine the parents
to see if there are meaningful personality patterns associated with a given category in the
child. The traditional psychiatric diagnoses
do not satisfy the research requirements of
objectivity and reproducibility, however.
Therefore a different system of classification
of child psychiatric patients is needed.
The externalizer-internalizer dimension for
describing adult psychiatric patients proposed by Philips and Zigler (1961) was
found reliable in classification of patients
into "externalizers" who "act out" their
problems, often in antisocial behavior, and
"internalizers," who resort to fantasy. Achenbach (1966), working with childhood behavior
problems, found an externalizer-internalizer
dichotomy similar to that proposed by Philips
and Zigler. Using clusters of symptoms, he
was able to classify some boys, for example,
as "aggressive" or "externalizers," who were
characterized by antisocial, acting-out behavior; other boys could be classified as "obsessive-compulsive-phobic" or "internalizers."
This classification into externalizers and
internalizers appears applicable to both the
children and adults in families, and much
existing research into the interaction of

515

576

LOENA M, ANDERSON

parent and child personality could be viewed

from the standpoint of these two categories.
For example, the typical parent of a delinquent child might be expected to be an
"externalizer" since he tends to act out by
using physical punishment and behaving
in a generally openly aggressive fashion
(Bandura & Walters, 1959; Glueck & Glueck,
1950).
The purpose of this study was to examine
relationships between parents' personality and
specific behavioral problems in their children.
The primary goal was to study personality
characteristics of parents of two well-defined
and homogeneous clinical populations, "aggressive" (A) and "neurotic" (N) boys, following Achenbach's factors (1966). Background data selected for study were age of
parents, occupation and education of fathers,
size of family, birth order of boy, and IQ
of clinic boys.
METHOD
Subjects
Experimental Ss were parents of 9- to 11-year-old
Caucasian boys who had been patients at four psychiatric facilities.3 Only those parents were included
who were married, living together, and were natural
parents of the boys. The MMPI had been administered to all of these parents as part of initial
diagnostic procedures.
In addition, the boys whose parents were included
in the study had to meet several other criteria.
Their age was between 9 and 11 years inclusive at
time of initial contact with the family. IQ had to
be 90 or above, or in a few cases where no IQ
was available, there was evidence of at least average
grades in school. There was no evidence of brain
damage or severe physical disabilities. Initial survey
of the files resulted in a sample of 395 sets of parents
whose sons met the above criteria. Of these, 29 pairs
fit the experimental A classification, and 23 pairs
were experimental N.
Control Ss were SO pairs of parents of Caucasian
boys in regular (not "special") fourth, fifth, and
sixth grades.4 All these parents were married, living
together, the natural parents of the boys, and presumably psychologically healthy.

Measures
Measures used in the study were the MMPI, a
background data sheet for clinic families, a less de3
University of Minnesota Hospital Psychiatric
Department, Institute of Child Development Clinic,
Washburn Clinic, all in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and
the Wilder Clinic, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
4
Pupils at the Hayes Elementary School in
Fridley, Minnesota.

tailed background data sheet for control families, and

a 91-symptom check list developed by Achenbach
(1966). In addition, Achenbach's symptom lists for
his "aggressive behavior" and "obsessive-compulsivephobic" rotated factors were used to determine the
classification of 5slabeled here experimental A or
aggressive and experimental N or neurotic, respectively. These categories were chosen rather than
externalizers or internalizers because they appeared
to represent the extreme end points of Achenbach's
internalizer-externalizer first principal factor. It was
hoped this restriction would minimize the chance of
overlapping symptoms in the children, and thereby
insure more distinct, homogeneous parent groups.
(It should be noted all the aggressive boys in this
study would also be classified as externalizers, and
the neurotics as internalizers.)
MMPI scores and background data for experimental 5s were obtained from clinic files in which
initial diagnostic work had been completed. The
child's presenting complaints were checked off on
the 91-symptom check list according to the procedure devised by Achenbach. Psychologists' and
psychiatrists' reports were referred to only for intellectual evaluations and tests for organicity. If 60%
of the symptoms coincided with experimental List A
or List N, they were labeled accordingly. (The
researcher was the sole judge, since previous studies
showed an average interjudge reliability of 80%.)
The control group of parents were all volunteers
who completed the MMPI and background data
sheet in supervised group testing. Each couple was
also contacted individually in an effort to elicit any
possible abnormalities in parent or child which might
not meet conditions of selection.

RESULTS
Background data analysis (using a chisquare test of proportions) showed no significant differences except in birth order of the
clinic child, with neurotic boys tending to be
firstborn and aggressive boys middle children
(/X.01).
The parent MMPI's were compared by a
multivariate analysis of variance, an analysis of frequency of high and low points in
individual ^-corrected profiles, inspection of
group mean profiles, and an analysis of configural differences between Hy-Pd and Pd-Mf
scale scores. Individual MMPI's were excluded where scales ? or L were greater or
equal to a T score of 70, or where the F or K
scales were greater or equal to a T score of 75.
Mean T scores for the six groups are given
in Table 1 and group mean profiles are
shown in Figure 1.
A multivariate analysis of variance was
performed using raw scores. (This method of

577

PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF PARENTS

TABLE 1

MEAN MMPI T SCORES FOR EXPERIMENTAL A, EXPERIMENTAL N, AND CONTROL MOTHERS AND FATHERS
Experimental A

L
F
K
Hs
D
Hy
Pd
Mf
Pa
Pt
Sc
Ma
Si

Control

Experimental N

Mothers

Fathers

Mothers

Fathers

Mothers

Fathers

50
53
55
56
55
61
57
43
59
56
57
53
54

46
53
53
54
56
56
64
54
53
54
55
55
52

50
50
59
52
57
59
56
47
56
55
54
45
51

50
50
61
52
51
60
57
57
53
52
51
53
48

50
50
59
52
51
56
55
47
56
56
54
50
53

46
50
55
50
53
56
50
57
53
54
51
55
52

analysis did not permit corrections for K and

sex differences included in the usual T-score
profiles.) There were six cells with the 13

Hy

mean MMPI scale scores nested in 13 X 13

matrices within each cell, the final Fs based
on determinant ratios.

Pd

Mf

Pa

Pt

Sc

Ma

Si

Ma

Si

Mean K-Corrected profiles*

* Exp. A Fathers
o
o Exp.N Fathers -Control Fathers

65
60

$ 55-

"8

t3
50
<U
k.

3 4540

K Hs

Hy

Pd Mf
Scales

Pa

Pt

Sc

Mean K- Corrected profiles *- Exp. A Mothers

o
oExp.N Mothers Control Mothers
FIG. 1. Profiles of fathers and mothers,

578

LORNA M. ANDERSON
TABLE 2

RESULTS or MIJLTIVARIATE ANALYSIS or VARIANCE OF

MEAN MMPI RAW SCORES, EXPERIMENTAL A,
EXPERIMENTAL N, AND CONTROL
MOTHERS AND FATHERS
Source
Grand mean

Sex

df

F value

13/186 2299.12
39.09
13/186

Treatment3
13/186
Controls vs.
Experimental
Experimental A vs.
Experimental N 13/186
26/372
Sex X Treatment

3.07

p value
<. 000000001
<. 000000001
<.001

2.75 <.01
l.OS
.40 (ns)

"Overall treatment effect ia average of two treatment

analyses given.

In addition to the grand mean, sources of

varation tested were sex, treatment, and the
Sex X Treatment interaction. Treatment effects were broken into two parts: controls
versus experimental N and A combined
(i.e., controls versus experimental) and experimental N versus experimental A.
The results of the multivariate analysis are
given in Table 2. Only the interaction effect,
Sex X Treatment, was not significant.

experimental group more deviant on each of

these scales.
Significant treatment effects for experimental A versus experimental N parents were
found on scales K, Hs, Pd, Pt, Sc, and Ma.
On K, experimental N parents scored higher,
but on all the rest, experimental A parents
scored higher, in the more deviant direction.
Frequencies of MMPI Scales above T = 70
The next analysis involved computing frequencies of individual MMPI scores equal to
or greater than a T score of 70, in order to
study relative group differences in elevation of
each scale by means of the chi-square test of
proportions. This was done by counting the
number of high points. A high point is here
defined as any scale elevation greater or equal
to T score = 70. For example, one profile (an
experimental A mother) was coded 49 78'
10-3 26/5. This would be counted as four
high points. Mothers and fathers were analyzed separately. None of the analyses for the
mothers was significant. The proportions of
high point codes K and Pd were significantly
different for fathers, however. Experimental
N fathers had more high point K (p < .01)

Univariate ANOVAs
Univariate tests within treatment, sex, and
Sex X Treatment main effects were also performed, as shown in Table 3. None of the
interaction effects was significant.
Seven of the univariate tests for sex reached
significance. Most of the variation resulted
from using raw scores in the analysis, since
no allowance had been made for the known
differences in male and female T scores. On
scales Pa and Ma, however, a significantly
different response between males and females
was found, where such differences are not
normally expected. In the absence of significant interaction effects, it appeared this difference extended to all three groups, experimental and control both. Females were uniformly higher than males on the Pa scale
and males were higher than females on the
Ma scale.
Significant differences between the experimental groups combined versus controls were
found on scales Hs, D, Hy, and Pd, with the

TABLE 3
RESULTS OF MMPI INDIVIDUAL SCALE ANOVAs,
EXPERIMENTAL A, EXPERIMENTAL N, AND
CONTROL MOTHERS AND FATHERS

Scale

L
F
K
Hs
D
Hy
Pd
Mf
Pa
Pt
Sc
Ma
Si

Treatment (Rows)

Sex (Columns)

C vs. A + N
A vs. N
(df = 13/186) (df = 13/186)

(df = 13/186)

ns
ns
ns

ns
ns
F = 12.47***
F = 12.14***

ns
ns
F = 8.59**

ns
ns
F = 7.36**
F = 13.97***
F = 9.67**

ns

F
F
F
F

=
=
=
=

ns
ns
ns

5.25*
10.39**
11.55**
16.77***

F = 5.84*
F = 24.24****
F = 23.38****

ns
ns
ns
ns
ns
ns

F = 472.8****
F = 7.22**
F = 7.71**

ns

ns
F = 6.73*

ns

Note.'None of the interaction effects were significant.

*p <.05.
**p <.01.
***t <.001.
**** < .00001.

PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF PARENTS

and Experimental A fathers had more high
(p< .001).
Frequencies of "Low Mf" in Mothers
"Low Mf" has come to have a special
meaning clinically for females, particularly in
combination with high elevations in other
scales, (It refers to a high score in the direction of femininity.) For this analysis, a
female profile so classified was one in which
Mf was the lowest clinical scale, as plotted
on the standard ^-corrected profile. The
experimental A mothers had significantly more
low Mf profiles than either the experimental N
or the control mothers (p < .05).
Configured Differences
Configural differences in individual scores
on Hy and Pd were analyzed by subtracting
the ^-corrected score on Pd from Hy for each
parent. The Pd minus Mf difference score
was obtained likewise. The distribution of
both these differences appeared markedly
skewed for fathers in all three groups (in
the direction of greater differences), so
median rather than mean values were calculated. The fathers and mothers were then
compared separately using the Extension of
the Median Test (Siegel, 1956).
Tests on both Hy-Pd and Pd-Mj differences
were not significant for mothers. Fathers were
significantly different on Hy-Pd at the .05
level, with the experimental A fathers higher
on Pd than Hy, while both experimental N
and control fathers were lower on Pd than Hy.
The Pd-Mj differences were even greater (at
the .001 level), with the experimental A and
experimental N fathers having a higher Pd
than Mf score, while the control fathers
were reversed in direction, with Mf higher
than Pd.
Summary of Results of MM PI Testing
To summarize results for fathers, experimental A fathers scored higher than either
experimental N or control fathers on Pd and
Sc. Experimental N fathers scored lower than
either experimental A or control fathers on
Pt but higher than either experimental A
or control fathers on K. Experimental A
fathers were higher on Pd than Hy using
median difference scores, while experimental

579

N and control fathers were higher on Hy

than Pd, Both experimental A and experimental N fathers were higher on Pd than Mf
while control fathers were higher on Mf than
Pd. The configural analyses confirmed the
generally higher scores on Pd in the experimental A fathers, both absolutely and relatively to other scales.
Experimental A mothers scored lower than
either experimental N or control mothers on
K. They scored higher on Scales Hs, Pd, Pt,
Sc, and Ma than either experimental N or
control mothers. They had more low point
Mf than either experimental N or control
mothers. Both experimental A and experimental N mothers scored higher than controls
on Scales D and Hy. The mothers in all three
groups had much more similar group profiles
than did the fathers.
DISCUSSION
Although the experimental A parents had
the lowest socioeconomic status (SES) rating,
they were not significantly different from the
other two groups, as had been expected. This
was contrary to the findings of the Philips
and Zigler (1961) and Achenbach (1966)
studies. The three groups were comparable on
age of parents, age of children, and number
of children, as well as SES.
The only demographic characteristic on
which the clinic boys differed significantly was
birth order. Neurotic boys tended to be firstborns, and aggressive boys, middle children.
Sampson's (1965) review of the research in
ordinal position presented very little comparable empirical data. Sampson concluded,
however, that laboratory studies of aggression in younger children, such as those by
Sears (1951), Haeberle (1958), and MacFarlane (1954), show that firstborn males
are somewhat less aggressive than secondborn males. The findings of the present study
support these conclusions.
Previous research (Butcher, 1969) suggested that experimental parents combined
would be more deviant than controls and
that experimental A parents would be more
deviant than experimental N parents. Both
these expectations were fulfilled.
The greater deviance of the experimental A
fathers, particularly on the Pd scale, is the

580

LOENA M. ANDERSON

most striking finding in this study. In each

statistical analysis, the Pd scale is markedly
higher in this group, indicating the same kind
of difficulty with control of overt aggression
previously noted by Butcher (1966). The
other notable scale elevation in the experimental A fathers was on Sc. Together with
the high Pd, this indicates a group with poor
impulse control and inability to tolerate
meaningful close relationships, remaining cold,
distant, hostile, and unpredictable.
The present investigation did not attempt
in any way to directly examine parent and
child identification; nevertheless, the symptoms in Achenbach's list of "aggressive" traits
in boys such as temper tantrums, stealing,
lying, and inadequate guilt feelings, appear
very similar to the antisocial traits associated
with elevation on the Pd scale.
The most notable finding in the experimental N fathers was the relatively high
elevation on the K scale. Since the three
groups were roughly comparable in background, this discrepancy cannot be attributed
to differences in education or socioeconomic
level. The experimental N fathers appear relatively more defensive as a group and less apt
to admit shortcomings. This group may feel
particularly unable to admit feelings of anxiety, or other "neurotic" symptoms. In other
respects, the neurotic fathers appeared very
similar to the control fathers.
Both experimental and control mothers followed the characteristic pattern of elevations
on scales Hy, Pd, and Pa with relatively low
Mf, previously found (e.g., Hanvik, 1959) to
be characteristic of the typical mother of a
child brought for counseling. The three groups
differed relatively little from each other in
configuration. The best explanation for this
is that the mothers were not as important
in influencing the development of characteristic pathology in their sons as were the
fathers, which would agree with the usual
conclusions of identity theory. The experimental A mothers did appear more deviant
than either experimental N or control
mothers, however, even though their group
profile was similar. They were significantly
higher on Pd and Sc, as were the experimental A fathers. It appears they also were
hostile and had inadequate impulse control,

but their very low Mf suggests their hostility

would be expressed by passive-aggressive
maneuvers rather than directly.
The degree of pathology of experimental A
parents is probably limited in this research
by the requirement that parents be married
and living together. As Loeb (1966) points
out, parental separation and divorce is related
to greater delinquent tendencies in children.
(Children of divorced and separated parents
had many more problems including aggression or acting-out behavior (64%) than children of continuously married parents (23%)
(p < .001).) Although previous studies have
found relatively greater pathology in mothers
of "externalizers" or "acting-out" children
(Cummings, 1967; Liverant, 1959; Rexford,
1966), this may well have resulted from the
preponderance of mothers without husbands
in these studies.
The most important clinical implication in
this research is the necessity of including the
father in assessment and treatment of boys,
particularly aggressive boys. Also indicated
is the importance of including fathers in
further research in the area of parent-child
personality interactions.
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BUTCHER, J. N. MMPI: Research developments and
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GLUECK, S., & GLTOCK, E. Unraveling juvenile
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HAEBERLE, A. Interactions of sex, birth order, and
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Manuscripts Accepted for Publication in the

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Effect of Nurses' Mode of Dress on Behavior of Psychiatric Patients Differing in Information Processing Complexity: H. Stephen Leff,* Rudy V. Nydegger, and Mildred Buck: Harvard Medical School, 74 Fenwood Road,
Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
Etiquette of Verbal Conditioning: Bruce Denner*: Psychological Clinic, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
47401.
A Study of the Comparability of the WISC and the WAJS: Robert L. Simpson*: California State College at Fullerton, 800 North State College Boulevard, Fullerton, California 92631.
Stereotypic Aspect in Masculinity-Feminity Measurement: Patricia W. Lunneborg*: Bureau of Testing, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98105.
Relation between a Dimension of Internal-External Control and the MMPI with an Alcoholic Population: Allen
Goss* and Thomas E. Morosko: Texas Research Institute of Mental Sciences, 1300 Moursund Avenue, Texas
Medical Center, Houston, Texas 77025.
Associative Interference in Schizophrenia as a Function of Paranoid Status and Premorbid Adjustment: Jay Y.
Gonen*: School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 260 Crittenden Boulevard, Rochester,
New York 14620.
Quantified Judgments of Mental Health from the Rorschach, TAT, and Clinical Status Interview by Means of a
Scaling Technique: Bertram P. Karon* and Paul O'Grady: Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48823.
A Pilot Study on the Effectiveness of Systematic Desensitization with Neurologically Impaired Children with
Phobic Disorders: Martin Obler and Robert F. Terwilliger*: Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science,
New School for Social Research, 66 West 12th Street, New York, New York.
Effect of Differential Instructional Set on Sentence-Completion Responses: Floyd S. Irvin* and Marie L. Johnson :
Institute for Psychosomatic Research and Training, 29th Street and Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.
An Experimental Procedure for the Modification of Psychotic Behavior: Ivan Toby Rutner* and Charles Bugle:
Psychological Service Center, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Culture Conflict in the Treatment of "Mental Illness" and the Central Role of Patient Leader: Alan F. Fontana*
and Michel Corey: Veterans Administration Hospital, West Spring Street, West Haven, Connecticut.
Mathematicians: The Creative Researcher and the Average PhD: Ravenna Helson* and Richard S. Crutchfield:
Institute of Personality Assessment and Research, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720.
Professional Research Commitment: A Symptom or a Syndrome?: Richard L. Bednar* and Jeffrey G. Shapiro:
Arkansas Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72703.
Effects of Foreknowledge of Death in the Assessment from Case History Material of Intent to Die: Ralph W. Hood,
Jr.*: Department of Psychology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota 57006.
* Asterisk indicates for whom address is supplied.

(Continued on page 589)