Citation

Haskett ME, Kistner JA. Child Dev. 1991; 62(5): 979-990.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

1756669

Abstract

14 3-6-year-old children with a history of physical abuse and a closely matched comparison group of 14 nonabused children, all of whom had been in day-care for more than a year, participated in this investigation. Behavior observations, teacher reports, and peer sociometric ratings were used to evaluate children's peer interactions. It was found that abused children initiated fewer positive interactions with peers and exhibited a higher proportion of negative behavior than nonabused comparison children. Peers viewed abused children as less well liked. Further, peers were less likely to reciprocate the initiations of abused children, although they approached abused children as often as they approached comparison children. Teachers viewed abused children as more behaviorally disturbed. Overall, results indicated that abused children experience disturbed social interactions outside the home environment, despite involvement in a day-care setting that provides alternative peer and adult role models.

Language: en