Relations Between Emotion Regulation, Parenting, and Psychopathology in Young Maltreated Children in Out of Home Care

Young maltreated children, birth to three years, represent the age group with the highest rates of maltreatment in the United States (ACYF 2007). There are few studies to date that have investigated early childhood maltreatment and its effects on emotion regulatory processes and psychopathology. In response, the current investigation uses a dyadic assessment procedure to examine the relationship between parenting, emotion regulation, and symptoms of psychopathology among maltreating and non-maltreating parent–child interactions. The participants in this study were 123 children (66 maltreated and 57 nonmaltreated) from ages 1–3. Child and parent affect and child effortful control were observed during a parent–child interaction task. Symptoms of psychopathology were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist. The maltreated children exhibited more anger, more internalizing symptomatology, and less positive affect compared to non-maltreated children. Among maltreated children, emotion dysregulation was associated with internalizing symptomatology. Moreover, these data reveal parental positive affect was associated with lower child internalizing symptomatology and parental anger was associated with higher child internalizing symptomatology in the entire sample. This investigation offers evidence that emotion dysregulation subsequent to poor dyadic interactions is associated with early child maltreatment. These data suggest that maltreated children experience difficulties in emotion regulation which may be related to their higher levels of behavioral symptomatology.     

The role of maltreatment experience in children's understanding of the antecedents of emotion

The ability to understand the causes and likely triggers of emotions has important consequences for children's adaptation to their social environment. Yet, little is currently known about the processes that contribute to the development of emotion understanding. To assess how well children understood the antecedents of emotional reactions in others, we presented children with a variety of emotional situations that varied in outcome and equivocality. Children were told the emotional outcome and asked to rate whether a situation was a likely cause of such an outcome. We tested the effects of maltreatment experience on children's ability to map emotions to their eliciting events and their understanding of emotion–situation pairings. The present data suggest that typically developing children are able to distinguish between common elicitors of negative and positive events. In contrast, children who develop within maltreating contexts, where emotions are extreme and inconsistent, interpret positive, equivocal, and negative events as being equally plausible causes of sadness and anger. This difference in maltreated children's reasoning about emotions suggests a critical role of experience in aiding children's mastery of the structure of interpersonal discourse.     

The impact of child maltreatment on expressive syntax at 60 months

Although child maltreatment has often been described as leading to language deficits, the few well-controlled investigations of language acquisition in maltreated children have focused on language content rather than form, or have used qualitative rather than quantitative measures. This study examines syntactic complexity in 19 maltreated and 14 nonmaltreated preschool-aged children. Mother-child dyads participated in play sessions that were transcribed and scored for the presence of morphosyntactic forms in child speech and for specific sentence constructions in maternal speech. Findings indicated that child maltreatment was associated with language delay in both vocabulary and production of syntactic structures. There were also qualitative differences in characteristics of maternal utterances between maltreating and comparison groups. Because maltreatment initially occurred before age 2, this study highlights the long-lasting negative influence of maltreatment on language development and also provides the first demonstration of child language delays and differences in maternal speech within a single maltreatment sample.     

Justification of violence beliefs and social problem-solving as mediators between maltreatment and behavior problems in adolescents

This study examined whether justification of violence beliefs and social problem solving mediated between maltreatment experiences and aggressive and delinquent behavior in adolescents. Data were collected on 191 maltreated and 546 nonmaltreated adolescents (ages 14 to 17 years), who completed measures of justification of violence beliefs, social problem-solving dimensions (problem orientation, and impulsivity/carelessness style), and psychological problems. Findings indicated that maltreated adolescents' higher levels of delinquent and aggressive behavior were partially accounted for by justification of violence beliefs, and that their higher levels of depressive symptoms were partially mediated by a more negative orientation to social problem-solving. Comparisons between boys and girls indicated that the model linking maltreatment, cognitive variables, and psychological problems was invariant.     

Social Competence in Children with Brain Disorders: A Meta-analytic Review

Social competence, i.e. appropriate or effective social functioning, is an important determinant of quality of life. Social competence consists of social skills, social performance and social adjustment. The current paper reviews social skills, in particular emotion recognition performance and its relationship with social adjustment in children with brain disorders. In this review, normal development and the neuro-anatomical correlates of emotion recognition in both healthy children and adults and in various groups of children with brain disorders, will be discussed. A systematic literature search conducted on PubMed, yielded nine papers. Emotion recognition tasks were categorized on the basis of task design and emotional categories to ensure optimal comparison across studies before an explorative meta-analysis was conducted. This meta-analytic review suggests that children with brain disorders show impaired emotion recognition, with the recognition of sad and fearful expressions being most impaired. Performance did not seem to be related to derivative measures of social adjustment. Despite the limited number of studies on a variety of brain disorders and control groups, outcomes were quite consistent across analyses and corresponded largely with the existing literature on development of emotion recognition in typically developing children. More longitudinal prospective studies on emotion recognition are needed to gain insight into recovery and subsequent development of children with distinct brain disorders. This will aid development, selection and implementation of interventions for improvement of social competence and quality of life in children with a brain disorder.     

Differential expression of social dominance as a function of age and maltreatment experience

Recent perspectives on social dominance in normative populations have suggested a developmental progression from using primarily coercive strategies to incorporation of more socially competent strategies to attain material and social resources. Parental influences on the resource control strategies children use have been proposed but not investigated empirically. The present study examined age- and gender-related differences in dominance strategies in 470 children from high-risk neighborhoods who were between 6 and 13 years of age, approximately half of whom had experienced maltreatment. A Q-sort measure of social dominance was developed and received preliminary support. Consistent with predictions from resource control theory, age-related differences in dominance-related behavior were demonstrated in both nonmaltreated and maltreated children. Maltreated children were more likely than nonmaltreated children to be identified as dominant bullies at any age. Dominance and bullying were not more likely to be associated for children who had experienced physical and sexual abuse relative to those who were neglected or emotionally maltreated. Results are discussed in terms of the influence of maltreatment on the social development of children, and intervention approaches for limiting these deleterious effects are recommended.     

Narrative representations of moral-affiliative and conflictual themes and behavioral problems in maltreated preschoolers

Examined whether maltreated preschoolers are more likely than nonmaltreated preschoolers to have fewer moral-affiliative and more conflictual narrative representations and whether these representations mediate child behavior problems. A structured narrative story-telling task was administered to assess representations, and independent ratings of behavior problems were obtained from teachers. The narratives of maltreated children contained more conflictual and fewer moral-affiliative themes. Maltreated children also exhibited more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. A partial mediation effect of conflictual representations on the relation between child maltreatment and externalizing behavior problems was found. The results demonstrate the relation between child maltreatment and children's organization of their life experiences and their behavioral symptomatology.     

Maltreated Children Use More Grammatical Negations

Many studies reveal a strong impact of childhood maltreatment on language development, mainly resulting in shorter utterances, less rich vocabulary, or a delay in grammatical complexity. However, different theories suggest the possibility for resilience—a positive adaptation to an otherwise adverse environment—in children who experienced childhood maltreatment. Here, we investigated different measures for language development in spontaneous speech, examining whether childhood maltreatment leads to a language deficit only or whether it can also result in differences in language use due to a possible adaptation to a toxic environment. We compared spontaneous speech during therapeutic peer-play sessions of 32 maltreated and 32 non-maltreated children from the same preschool and equivalent in gender, age (2 to 5 years), home neighborhood, ethnicity, and family income. Maltreatment status was reported by formal child protection reports, and corroborated by independent social service reports. We investigated general language sophistication (i.e., vocabulary, talkativeness, mean length of utterance), as well as grammatical development (i.e., use of plurals, tense, grammatical negations). We found that maltreated and non-maltreated children showed similar sophistication across all linguistic measures, except for the use of grammatical negations. Maltreated children used twice as many grammatical negations as non-maltreated children. The use of this highly complex grammatical structure shows an advanced linguistic skill, which shows that childhood maltreatment does not necessarily lead to a language deficit. The result might indicate the development of a negativity bias in the structure of spontaneous language due to an adaptation to their experiences.     

Predictors of resilience in maltreated and nonmaltreated Latino children

To date, few studies have sought to investigate the effects of child maltreatment and processes influencing maladaptation and resilience in Latino children. In the current investigation, multiple aspects of functioning, personal resources, and relationship features were examined in school-age maltreated and nonmaltreated Latino children. Maltreated Latino children were found to have fewer areas of resilient functioning. Ego-resiliency and ego-control, as personal resources, and the ability to form a positive relationship with an adult figure outside of the immediate family predicted resilience. However, certain aspects of interpersonal functioning were differentially related to resilience for maltreated and nonmaltreated Latino children. These findings have implications for understanding how resilience can be promoted in maltreated and nonmaltreated Latino children.     

A Multilevel Meta-analysis on Academic Achievement Among Maltreated Youth

Maltreatment can influence normative development and negatively impact emotional, behavioral, and social functioning in youth. As a result, it is not surprising that maltreated youth, as compared to non-maltreated youth, tend to underperform academically. Research on the academic performance of maltreated youth has increased over the last decade and several review papers have been published in this area. While the conclusions of these review articles have been that maltreated youth are at greater risk for academic deficits as compared to their non-maltreated peers, there are several conflicting findings within the literature that make it difficult to determine if or to what extent maltreated youth may demonstrate academic difficulty. Using a multilevel, structural equation model meta-analysis technique, the current study sought to provide a quantitative synthesis of the literature by examining the mean difference between maltreated and non-maltreated youth on measures of academic performance. Moreover, the current study also examined group differences between academic subject and maltreatment type. A total of 72 effect sizes were extracted from 32 studies that met inclusion criteria. Results demonstrated an overall negative, medium effect size, such that maltreated youth tended to perform slightly greater than half a standard deviation below non-maltreated youth on measures of academic performance. Moderation analyses suggest deficits may be greater on measures of general academic performance, as compared to language arts measures. No differences were observed for maltreatment type. These findings highlight the need for increased focus on academic difficulties among maltreated youth.     

Neuromotor Functioning and Behavior Problems in Children at Risk for Psychopathology

Previous studies have found that early neuromotor deficits may be a precursor of later psychopathology. The present study examined the relationship between neuromotor dysfunction and behavioral deviance in children characterized by a variety of risk factors (parental schizophrenia, parental psychiatric disorder other than schizophrenia, and parental maltreatment). The sample consisted of 108 children (average age 9.75 years) who were assessed twice, approximately 1 year apart. It was found that maltreated children had poorer neuromotor functioning and more behavior problems than children who were not maltreated, regardless of parental psychiatric status. The results also indicated that the relationship between neuromotor functioning and problem behaviors varied as a function of parental psychiatric status. These findings suggest that, although the effects of maltreatment are generalized and pervasive, there are distinctive relationships between neuromotor functioning and behavioral deviance depending on the nature of the risk factors a child has been exposed to.     

Global reports of childhood maltreatment versus recall of specific maltreatment experiences: Relationships with dysfunctional attitudes and depressive symptoms

Although studies have suggested that reports of childhood maltreatment are related to depressive cognitions and symptom levels in adults, it is unclear whether the significant relations reported are due to the recall of specific maltreatment experiences, how individuals globally label their experiences (i.e., whether they believe they were maltreated during childhood), or both. Results from the current study supported the moderating role of global beliefs only for childhood sexual maltreatment. Specifically, the relationship between reports of specific childhood sexual maltreatment experiences and both dysfunctional attitudes and depressive symptom levels was significant only among participants who also globally endorsed a history of childhood sexual maltreatment. In contrast, the correlates of specific childhood emotional and physical maltreatment experiences were, for the most part, independent of whether the participants globally endorsed childhood emotional or physical maltreatment, respectively.     

Longitudinal associations among child maltreatment, social functioning, and cortisol regulation

Child maltreatment increases the risk for impaired social functioning and cortisol regulation. However, the longitudinal interplay among these factors is still unclear. This study aimed to shed light on the effect of maltreatment on social functioning and cortisol regulation over time. The sample consisted of 236 children (mean age 7.64 years, SD = 1.36; 125 maltreated children and 111 nonmaltreated children, 128 boys and 108 girls) who attended a week-long summer camp for 2 consecutive years. Saliva was collected during 5 days at 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Means of morning and afternoon cortisol levels and cortisol change (difference between morning and afternoon levels, controlled for morning levels) were used to group the children into low-, medium-, and high-cortisol groups. Prosocial, disruptive/aggressive, and withdrawn behaviors were assessed using information from peers and counselors. Maltreated children showed less prosocial and more disruptive/aggressive and withdrawn behavior. Results of structural equation modeling analyses indicated that there were indirect effects of maltreatment on Year 2 morning cortisol via prosocial and disruptive/aggressive behavior: Lower levels of prosocial behavior and higher levels of disruptive/aggressive behavior were related to lower morning cortisol levels 1 year later. Withdrawn behavior was related to higher afternoon cortisol values 1 year later. Results of this study suggest that maltreated children are more likely to experience difficulties in social functioning, which in turn is related to cortisol regulation 1 year later. This altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis functioning may put children at risk for later psychopathology.     

Peer interaction and maltreated children: Social network and epigenetic models

The epigenetic and social network models of social development are discussed. The relative efficacy of the two approaches is put to empirical test by examining the relationship between inadequate attachment relationships and subsequent peer interaction. Infants in a day care center who either had or had not experienced maltreatment were observed with their mothers and with peers. The social network model was supported in that there were few differences between maltreated and non-maltreated infants on peer interaction behavior while the expected differences obtained on mother-infant interaction variables. The use of day care for maltreated children is recommended.     

Situating maltreatment in the social context: Challenges for research

This article is a reply to Kagan’s (in press) commentary on our earlier article (Luke & Banerjee, 2013), which presented a meta-analysis and systematic review of research on the links between childhood maltreatment and social understanding. We address Kagan’s comments about the depiction of maltreatment as an isolated independent variable, and consider the specific obstacles faced by researchers in this area when seeking to understand the role played by social–contextual factors. We also consider how Kagan’s extension of our argument about heterogeneity in maltreated samples might usefully be applied to future research with this vulnerable group.     

心理虐待对儿童认知情绪调节策略的影响：人格特质的中介作用

采用儿童认知情绪调节问卷、儿童版艾森克人格问卷、儿童心理虐待量表对405名8～12岁儿童进行研究,考察人格特质在心理虐待对认知情绪调节策略关系中的中介作用。结果发现：(1)儿童心理虐待与不适应性认知情绪调节策略呈显著正相关;儿童神经质与不适应性认知情绪调节策略呈显著正相关儿童内外倾与适应性认知情绪调节策略呈显著正相关(2)儿童神经质在心理虐待与儿童不适应性认知情绪调节策略关系间起到完全中介作用（3）该中介模型具有性别和年龄的测量等值性。研究结果显示,儿童心理虐待可以通过神经质的中介作用影响不适应性认知情绪调节策略。     

Emotional understanding: a comparison of physically maltreating and nonmaltreating mother-child dyads.

Investigated emotional understanding in 22 physically maltreating mothers and their children and a matched control group to determine the ways in which a maltreating relationship may interfere with children's emotional development. Findings indicated that, when compared to controls, maltreating mothers were less likely to engage in discussion reflective of emotional understanding (e.g., causes and consequences of emotion) and maltreated children demonstrated lower levels of emotional understanding. Further, significant relations emerged between maternal behavior (e.g., discussion of emotion) and children's emotional understanding skills. Findings are discussed from the functionalist approach to emotional development, emphasizing the importance of social context in the development of children's emotional understanding skills. Potential clinical applications are also considered.     

Mediating and Moderating Processes in the Relation between Maltreatment and Psychopathology: Mother-Child Relationship Quality and Emotion Regulation

The present study investigated underlying processes of the effect of maltreatment on psychopathology (i.e., internalizing and externalizing problems) in a group of 111 maltreated and 110 nonmaltreated 7–10 year-old children (60% boys). We tested the moderating and/or mediating roles of emotion regulation and the mother-child relationship quality (pattern of relatedness) using Structural Equation Modeling. Emotion regulation, but not the pattern of relatedness, mediated the relation between maltreatment and psychopathology. This mediation was moderated by the pattern of relatedness: For the group of children with an insecure pattern of relatedness, maltreatment was related to lower levels of emotion regulation, which was predictive of higher levels of internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. In contrast, for the secure relatedness group, there was no mediation by emotion regulation since the impact of maltreatment on emotion regulation was not significant. Implications of the mediating role of emotion regulation and the buffering role of the mother-child relationship quality were discussed.

Emotion Regulation of Preschool Children in Foster Care: The Influence of Maternal Depression and Parenting

Emotion regulation is a core developmental process that is related to children’s academic success and mental health. A small body of research has documented that maltreated children show deficits in this developmental arena. The current study was designed to add to the limited literature on emotion regulation in maltreated children in foster care. Emotion regulation tasks were administered to preschool foster children, videotaped, and later coded. Parenting was assessed via coded observations of mother-child interactions. Mothers reported on their experience of depressive symptomatology. We examined the relation of foster parenting and foster mother depression, as well as child characteristics and child welfare experiences, to emotion regulation, specifically in the joy and anger domains. Findings revealed that maternal depression and parental structuring significantly contributed to children’s anger regulation, but not to their regulation of joy. These findings are considered in the context of future research with respect to young maltreated children in foster care.     

The impact of social experience on neurobiological systems: illustration from a constructivist view of child maltreatment

In this article, I highlight the discipline of developmental psychopathology as an integrative framework that builds upon the historical underpinnings of a constructivist perspective. After presenting illustrative developmental psychopathology principles that I consider to be central to a constructivist view, I turn my attention to the role of experience on brain development. This serves as the entree into a discussion of research conducted with maltreated children on brain event-related potentials (ERPs) and the cognitive processing of emotional stimuli, neuroendocrine functioning, and acoustic startle. Each of these components of brain functioning serve to underscore how different neurobiological systems reflect the way in which individuals ascribe meaning to traumatic experiences. Research on child maltreatment, an “experiment of nature,” reveals that maltreated children actively construct their reality at both the biological and psychological levels of analysis, at least in part based on the meaning these children impute to their caregiving experiences.