The social cognitive development of abused children.

Abstract

Previous research on the impact of parental abuse on child development has typically been skewed to the more seriously injured or most socially disadvantaged families. The few studies attending to psychological consequences of abuse have further been limited by a failure to control for potentially confounding intellectual or demographic factors and have been too general in approach to provide effective guidelines for differential diagnosis, treatment, or theory building. The present study compared the social cognitive styles of abused children with a carefully matched control sample and found differences in perceived locus of control of social events and social role comprehensions. Similar trends emerged in perspective-taking skills and social sensitivity. These alternative social cognitions could not be attributed to IQ or class disparities between the groups. The implications of these results for treatment and as a theoretical model for understanding the intergenerational nature of abuse are discussed.

Locus of control in maltreated children: the impact of attachment and cumulative trauma

“…The study results show that in the MG there was a significant prevalence of harmful sociocognitive skills, such as the use of attributive styles that are based on reporting causes of events as external, in line with what has been observed in other studies (e.g., Barahal et al 1981). In other words, the children/youths that had been victims of maltreatment showed little confidence in the possibility that they could have an impact on their own experiences.…”

“…The rejection, hostile control, lack of warm and unpredictability that characterize the styles of parents that perpetrate maltreatment, cause their children to adopt an external locus of control, i.e., a way of thinking characterized, according to the definition provided by Rotter (1966), by attributing the responsibility for what happens in their lives to destiny and to other people (Barahal et al 1981;Ellis & Milner 1981;Serrano et al 1979). In other words, these few studies provide empirical evidence for the hypothesis that children suffering maltreatment-experiences defined as physical punishment not arising from their own behavior, psychological abuse, neglect or negligent care, exploitation and sexual abuse involving the deliberate use of threatened or actual physical strength and power by a person or group against a child and causing or having a good chance of causing actual or potential harm to the child's health, survival or dignity (ONU, 2006, p. 6)-have little confidence in the possibility that they can have an impact on their own experiences, especially the frustrating and unpleasant ones.…”

Development of the trauma play scale: An observation-based assessment of the impact of trauma on play therapy behaviors of young children.

“…According to Pearce and Pezzot-Pearce (1997, p. 32), several studies have documented cognitive impairment in children with a history of maltreatment in comparison to control subjects (Barahal, Waterman, & Martin, 1981;Pezzot, 1978). The maltreated children in these studies were reported to have lower IQs than their non-maltreated peers even when the impact of neurological damage was statistically controlled.…”

Childhood trauma and functional disability in psychosis, bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder: a review of the literature

“…There is increasing evidence from both clinical and nonclinical samples that adverse childhood experiences are associated with deficits in social cognitive processes such as emotion perception and theory of mind (Barahal et al 1981;Cicchetti et al 2003;Pears & Fisher, 2005;Koizumi & Takagishi, 2014). Social cognitive deficits are a core impairment of borderline personality disorder and are thought to be worsened by childhood maltreatment (Roepke et al 2013).…”