Social Perspective-Taking Skills in Maltreated Children and Adolescents

The primary goal of this study was to assess the ability of maltreated school-age children and adolescents to understand the thoughts, feelings, and points of view of others. Level of egocentrism and social perspective-taking coordination were assessed in a group of 49 maltreated and 49 demographica...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental psychology 2006-03, Vol.42 (2), p.207-217
Main Authors: Burack, Jacob A, Flanagan, Tara, Peled, Terry, Sutton, Hazel M, Zygmuntowicz, Catherine, Manly, Jody T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ability
Adolescence
Adolescent
Adolescent Development
Adolescents
Biological and medical sciences
Case Studies
Child
Child Abuse
Child abuse & neglect
Child Abuse - psychology
Child Neglect
Childhood
Childhood Development
Children & youth
Cognition & reasoning
Developmental Psychology
Egocentrism
Elementary School Students
Empirical research
Female
High School Students
Human
Humans
Individual Development
Individual Differences
Intelligence
Intelligence Tests
Interpersonal Relations
Interviews
Male
Maltreated children
Maltreatment
Medical sciences
Parenting
Perception
Perspective Taking
Psychological Patterns
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychosocial Development
Regression analysis
Role Taking
Self Concept
Self Esteem
Social Behavior
Social Perception
Social psychology
Social Skills
Student Reaction
Symptoms (Individual Disorders)
Teenagers
Victimization
Victimology
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Summary:The primary goal of this study was to assess the ability of maltreated school-age children and adolescents to understand the thoughts, feelings, and points of view of others. Level of egocentrism and social perspective-taking coordination were assessed in a group of 49 maltreated and 49 demographically matched nonmaltreated children. Twenty-six elementary and 23 high school students in each group were individually interviewed and their responses to hypothetical interpersonal situations coded for egocentricity and level of perspective-taking ability. The findings revealed that maltreated children and adolescents were more egocentric and delayed in their social perspective-taking development than their nonmaltreated peers and that they reported lower levels of global self-worth. However, differences within the group of maltreated children and adolescents emerged with regard to negotiating novel relationships, as those with fewer internalizing or externalizing symptoms exhibited better skills in this area than their peers who displayed more symptoms.
ISSN:0012-1649
1939-0599
DOI:10.1037/0012-1649.42.2.207