Social perspective-taking skills in maltreated children and adolescents.
The primary goal of this study was to assess the ability of maltreated school-age children and adolescents to understand the thoughts, feelings, and points of view of others. Level of egocentrism and social perspective-taking coordination were assessed in a group of 49 maltreated and 49 demographically matched nonmaltreated children. Twenty-six elementary and 23 high school students in each group were individually interviewed and their responses to hypothetical interpersonal situations coded for egocentricity and level of perspective-taking ability. The findings revealed that maltreated children and adolescents were more egocentric and delayed in their social perspective-taking development than their nonmaltreated peers and that they reported lower levels of global self-worth. However, differences within the group of maltreated children and adolescents emerged with regard to negotiating novel relationships, as those with fewer internalizing or externalizing symptoms exhibited better skills in this area than their peers who displayed more symptoms.
Department of Educational Psychology.
Jacob A
JA
Burack
Department of Educational Psychology.
Tara
T
Flanagan
Department of Educational Psychology.
Terry
T
Peled
Department of Educational Psychology.
Hazel M
HM
Sutton
Department of Educational Psychology.
Catherine
C
Zygmuntowicz
Mount Hope Family Center.
Jody T
JT
Manly
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting; D012649:Self Concept; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception