Individual differences in parents’ impressions of children and child physical abuse: A meta-analysis.

McCarthy, Randy J.; Wagner, Michael F.; Basham, Ariel; Jones, Caicina

doi:10.1037/vio0000028

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Longitudinal work suggests that parents reporting elevated stress are more likely to later report greater child behavior problems [ 13 , 24 ]. Aligned with negative impressions of children by parents at risk for abuse [ 25 ], parents’ risk of child maltreatment is elevated when they attribute their child’s misbehavior to negative intent [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Indeed, parents’ negative intent attributions predict their later child abuse risk longitudinally [ 32 ], and mothers who have been identified as abusive report more negative child attributions than comparison parents [ 33 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Relative to a comparison group, mothers at risk to abuse were more inclined to view children’s behavior negatively, attribute negative child behaviors to internal causes (e.g., negative intent), and attribute positive behaviors to factors external (less dispositional) to the child [ 34 ]. Thus, parents at risk to abuse may not only be more inclined to view children negatively, they may also be less inclined toward positive impressions and attribute positive behaviors to more transitory child qualities [ 25 ]. Furthermore, mothers at risk to abuse appear more likely to become angry when ascribing negative intent to child misbehavior [ 21 , 35 ] and to respond coercively with children when experiencing anger [ 36 , 37 ], consistent with observed links between parental anger and child abuse risk noted across several studies [ 34 , 38 , 39 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spotlight on Maternal Perceptions of Child Behavior: A Daily Diary Study with Child Welfare-Involved Mothers

Rodriguez

Silvia

2022

Behavioral Sciences

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Research has documented a variety of factors—including stress, attributions, and anger—that may increase parents’ risk for child maltreatment, but most of this research is based on low-risk, community samples of parents’ perceptions about themselves and their children. Moreover, parents are usually asked to provide self-reports wherein they summarize their general impressions distal from actual parenting. The current study employed experience sampling methods with a high-risk sample. Mothers identified for child maltreatment reported on their stress and coping as well as their perceptions regarding children’s misbehavior and good behavior using end-of-day surveys for up to four weeks. Only maternal reports of children’s good behavior based on personality and mood were relatively stable; stress, coping, and reports on child misbehavior varied considerably across days, implying that contributors to daily fluctuations in these factors could represent intervention targets. Although maternal perceptions of misbehavior severity, anger, and negative attributions were interrelated, only anger about misbehavior related to maternal stress levels. Mothers who reported better coping perceived their child’s behavior more favorably that day and were more likely to ascribe positive behavior to the child’s mood and personality. Current findings highlight the importance of positive coping mechanisms in parental perceptions of children; such findings should be replicated to determine how to maximize parental resources that reduce child maltreatment risk.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spotlight on Maternal Perceptions of Child Behavior: A Daily Diary Study with Child Welfare-Involved Mothers

Rodriguez

Silvia

2022

Behavioral Sciences

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“…What has been published are meta-analytic reviews of specific CPA risk factors. These CPA risk factors include errors in facial emotion recognition (Wagner et al, 2015), negative impressions of children (McCarthy et al, 2016), physiological reactivity (Reijman et al, 2016), childhood history of abuse (Assink et al, 2018;Madigan et al, 2019), infant attachment problems (Cyr et al, 2010), differences in abused and non-abused children's behaviors (Wilson et al, 2010), and child disability (Jones et al, 2012).…”

Section: Why Is Another Review Of Cpa Theory and Cpa Risk Factors Nee...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Child physical abuse risk factors: A systematic review and a meta-analysis

Milner

Crouch²,

McCarthy³

et al. 2022

Aggression and Violent Behavior

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“…More intensive research inquiry on negative affect could add to the existing components that abuse prevention programs typically address to improve program efficacy. Parents’ anger in particular has garnered the most empirical inquiry, with research demonstrating that anger relates to risk for physical abuse and neglect (McCarthy et al, 2016 ; Rodriguez & Richardson, 2007 ; Pidgeon & Sanders, 2009 ; Stith et al, 2009 ), exacerbates maternal cognitive risk factors in physical child abuse risk (Rodriguez, 2018 ), and mediates the association between childhood abuse history and maternal physical abuse risk (Smith et al, 2014 ). Thus, although most abuse prevention programs focus on shifting cognitions, some programs incorporate anger management components based on the premise that a greater tendency to experience anger will be invoked to result in maltreatment behavior (e.g., Altafim & Linhares, 2016 ; Sanders et al, 2004 ; de Wit et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Parental Affect and Maltreatment Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of maternal emotion in child maltreatment risk during the COVID-19 pandemic

Rodriguez

Lee

2022

J Fam Viol

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Purpose Preliminary research early in the COVID-19 pandemic suggested children appeared to be at increased risk for child maltreatment, particularly as parents struggled with mental health and economic strains. Such strains were likely to influence parental emotions about their children, affecting their parent-child interactions to contribute to elevated maltreatment risk. To identify the potential affective elements that may contribute to such increased maltreatment risk, the current study focused on whether maternal worry about children’s behavior specifically as well as maternal anger were related to increased risk for neglect or physical or psychological aggression six months into the pandemic. Method The racially diverse sample included 193 mothers who completed an online survey during the COVID-19 pandemic in late September-early October 2020. Results Mothers’ reported increases in neglect and physical and psychological aggression during the pandemic were significantly related with established measures of maltreatment risk. Furthermore, path models indicated that maternal anger and worry about children’s behavior, as well as their interaction, were significantly related to indicators of physical aggression risk and neglect during the pandemic, but only maternal anger related to increased psychological aggression during the pandemic. Conclusions Maternal worry and anger about children’s behavior may have exacerbated risk for maltreatment under the stressful conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings suggest affective reactions of both parental worry and anger focused on child behavior warrants greater empirical attention and consideration in intervention efforts both during the pandemic and potentially post-pandemic.

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Individual differences in parents’ impressions of children and child physical abuse: A meta-analysis.

Cited by 6 publications

References 26 publications

Spotlight on Maternal Perceptions of Child Behavior: A Daily Diary Study with Child Welfare-Involved Mothers

Spotlight on Maternal Perceptions of Child Behavior: A Daily Diary Study with Child Welfare-Involved Mothers

Child physical abuse risk factors: A systematic review and a meta-analysis

Role of maternal emotion in child maltreatment risk during the COVID-19 pandemic

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