Citation

Ometto M, de Oliveira PA, Milioni AL, dos Santos B, Scivoletto S, Busatto GF, Nunes PV, Cunha PJ. Eur. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 2015; 25(4): 397-405.

Affiliation

Equilibrium Program, Department and Institute of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Hospital das Clinicas, University of São Paulo, Rua Ovidio Pires de Campos, São Paulo, SP, 05403-010, Brazil, mariellaos@hotmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00787-015-0744-y

PMID

26224584

Abstract

Child maltreatment has frequently been associated with impaired social skills and antisocial features, but there are still controversies about the effect of each type of maltreatment on social behaviour. The aim of this study was to compare the social functioning and psychopathic traits of maltreated adolescents (MTA) with a control group (CG) and to investigate what types of maltreatments and social skills were associated with psychopathic traits in both groups. The types and intensity of maltreatment were evaluated through the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) in 107 adolescents, divided into the MTA group (n = 66) and non-maltreated youths (n = 41), our CG. The Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL: YV) and a detailed inventory for evaluation of social skills in adolescents were also applied in all individuals. MTA presented more psychopathic traits than the CG, in all domains measured by PCL: YV, independently of IQ levels and the presence of psychiatric disorders. Interestingly, the groups did not differ significantly from each other on indicators of social skills. Multiple regression analysis revealed that emotional neglect was the only maltreatment subtype significantly associated with psychopathic traits, more specifically with the PCL: YV interpersonal factor (F1), and that some social skills (empathy, self-control and social confidence) were related to specific psychopathic factors. The results highlight that emotional neglect may be more detrimental to social behaviours than physical and sexual abuse, and that neglected children require more specific and careful attention.

Language: en