TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1995//
TI  - Empathic responsiveness and affective reactivity to infant stimuli in high- and low-risk for physical child abuse mothers
JO  - Child abuse and neglect
A1  - Milner, J. S.
A1  - Halsey, L. B.
A1  - Fultz, J.
SP  - 767
EP  - 780
VL  - 19
IS  - 6
N2  - Empathic responsiveness and affective reactivity to infant stimuli were examined in matched groups of high- and low-risk for physical child abuse mothers. Hypotheses were generated based on models of aggression and the child abuse literature. Although no between-group differences were found in empathy, within-group differences were observed. Compared to baseline, high-risk mothers reported no change (p > .05) in empathy across infant conditions (baseline, smiling, quiet, and crying), while low-risk mothers reported an increase (p < .0005) in empathy following presentation of the crying infant. Although there was no change in empathy, high-risk mothers reported more sadness, distress, hostility, unhappiness, and less quietness following presentation of the crying infant. Low-risk mothers reported no changes in sadness, distress, and hostility. The data for high-risk mothers are congruent with reports that physical child abusers are less empathic and more hostile in response to a crying child. The findings support aggression models which suggest the lack of empathy and the presence of negative affectivity precede abusive behavior. Post-hoc analyses also provide support for an emotional contagion perspective, where high-risk parents, compared to low-risk parents, are thought to more frequently reflect the emotional state of the infant.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0145-2134
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -