Empathic responsiveness and affective reactivity to infant stimuli in high- and low-risk for physical child abuse mothers.
Empathic responsiveness and affective reactivity to infant stimuli were examined in matched groups of high- and low-risk for physical child abuse mothers. Hypotheses were generated based on models of aggression and the child abuse literature. Although no between-group differences were found in empathy, within-group differences were observed. Compared to baseline, high-risk mothers reported no change (p > .05) in empathy across infant conditions (baseline, smiling, quiet, and crying), while low-risk mothers reported an increase (p < .0005) in empathy following presentation of the crying infant. Although there was no change in empathy, high-risk mothers reported more sadness, distress, hostility, unhappiness, and less quietness following presentation of the crying infant. Low-risk mothers reported no changes in sadness, distress, and hostility. The data for high-risk mothers are congruent with reports that physical child abusers are less empathic and more hostile in response to a crying child. The findings support aggression models which suggest the lack of empathy and the presence of negative affectivity precede abusive behavior. Post-hoc analyses also provide support for an emotional contagion perspective, where high-risk parents, compared to low-risk parents, are thought to more frequently reflect the emotional state of the infant.
Milner
J S
JS
Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb 60115-2892, USA.
Halsey
L B
LB
Fultz
J
J
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012307:Risk Factors