Challenging Measures

Depression questionnaires may not work the same for highly intelligent people

- Simon Makin

PSYCHOLOGISTS HAVE FOUND that two common questionnaires for assessing depression don't work for comparing people of differing intelligence-and the problem may extend to other conditions and traits.

For a recent study in the journal Intelligence, Stanisław Czerwiński of the University of Gdańsk in Poland and his colleagues investigated how intelligence correlates with mental health. They hypothesized that the association between intelligence and better mental health starts out positive as it approaches the high end of the IQ scale, then turns negative.

The researchers analyzed data from two U.S. surveys that tracked thousands of people over decades. To estimate IQ, these surveys used an aptitude test that measures math and language abilities. Each used a different well-established mental health scale containing questions about things such as mood, sleep and appetite.