背景:尽管儿童虐待经历和情绪发展之间存在密切的关联,很少有研究研究儿童虐待对同理心发展的影响,仍然很少有研究将这些影响区分在虐待亚型之间。
目的:本研究调查了6至8岁儿童同理心的发展,正如虐待所预测的那样,并由儿童的附件表示来调节。
方法:参与者是250名儿童的社区样本,纵向随访,并在实验室环境中与他们的主要照顾者进行评估。
方法:从出生到六岁的儿童虐待经历是通过与照顾者的半结构化访谈来评估的,根据广泛使用的儿童虐待编码协议进行评级,以及照顾者和儿童自我报告的措施。通过照顾者报告评估了6岁和8岁时的儿童同理心。使用MacArthurStoryStemBattery在儿童中观察到附件表示。
结果:儿童情感虐待(β=-0.150,p=.012)和儿童忽视(β=-0.137,p=.016)预测8岁时的同理心下降,而儿童身体虐待(β=0.132,p=.027)和儿童暴露于家庭暴力(β=0.164,p=.004)预测8岁时的同理心增加。Further,儿童对母亲形象的否定表示缓和了儿童身体虐待和同理心之间的正相关(β=-0.177,p=0.005),这样,随着负面陈述的增加,关联变得越来越弱。
结论:这些结果突出了不同亚型的儿童虐待经历促进学龄儿童同理心发展的细微差别方式。
BACKGROUND: Despite robust associations between child maltreatment experiences and emotional development, a paucity of research examines the influence of child maltreatment on empathy development, and still fewer studies differentiate these effects across maltreatment subtypes.
OBJECTIVE: The present study examined the development of children\'s empathy from ages six to eight, as predicted by maltreatment, and as moderated by children\'s attachment representations.
METHODS: Participants were a community sample of 250 children followed longitudinally and assessed in a laboratory setting with their primary caregivers.
METHODS: Child maltreatment experiences from birth to age six were assessed by semi-structured interviews with caregivers, which were rated according to widely-used child maltreatment coding protocols, and by caregiver and child self-report measures. Child empathy was assessed at ages six and eight by caregiver-report. Attachment representations were observed in children using the MacArthur Story Stem Battery.
RESULTS: Child emotional abuse (β = -0.150, p = .012) and child neglect (β = -0.137, p = .016) predicted decreased empathy at age eight, whereas child physical abuse (β = 0.132, p = .027) and child exposure to domestic violence (β = 0.164, p = .004) predicted increased empathy at age eight. Further, children\'s negative representations of mother figures moderated the positive association between child physical abuse and empathy (β = -0.177, p = .005), such that the association became weaker as negative representations increased.
CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight the nuanced ways in which child maltreatment experiences of different subtypes contribute to the development of empathy in school-aged children.