Cognitive Science News

Smart minds may misread mental health tests

Two large US datasets show standard mental health surveys may mismeasure distress in highly intelligent people because the questions do not function the same across IQ levels (a lack of measurement invariance). An initial nonlinear pattern suggested mental health improves with intelligence up to a point before declining, but advanced analyses indicate the test items lose diagnostic power at high IQ, casting doubt on conclusions about the mental health of the gifted and underscoring the need for assessments designed for highly intelligent individuals.