WASHINGTON (CBSDC) – A recent study finds that it’s just a case of bad luck for parents who have children that suffer from low IQ’s.

The European study found that intellectual disabilities caused by genetic defects were the result of random mutations, according to The Associated Press.

Researchers examined 51 children who had an IQ lower than 50, as well as the children’s parents and a control group. The study found that 55 percent of cases showed that parents did not carry genetic defects to their children.

“People with intellectual disability had slightly more de novo mutations than controls, but more significantly [they] had more mutations with drastic consequences, which likely happened to them by chance,” Anita Rauch, lead author and researcher at the University of Zurich, told LiveScience.

Rauch added that this study shows that parents shouldn’t worry about having more children with severe intellectual disabilities.

“In the majority of cases, the recurrence risk within the family is low, which is usually a big relief for the parents and encourages them to have further children,” Rauch told HealthDay News.

The study was published in the journal The Lancet on Sept. 26.