Intellectual competence of children who are beginning inpatient and day psychiatric treatment

Intellectual abilities of 300 children with serious emotional disorders, referred to either psychiatric day‐ or inpatient‐hospital treatment, were compared. Comparisons also were made to WISC‐R standardization data. The findings indicated that children referred to inpatient settings were similar in intellectual competency to children in day treatment. Also, children with serious emotional disorders did not appear to differ strongly in clinically meaningful ways from the WISC‐R standardization sample, a finding that replicates results of other investigators. Three distinct, clinically useful profiles emerged from a cluster analysis of the total group that may be practical in planning educational and therapeutic interventions in treatment settings for seriously disturbed children. The profiles underscored the wide range of intellectual abilities represented among these children.