A Multimethod Approach to the Assessment of Physical Abuse

Numerous and heterogeneous symptoms of maladjustment have been documented among victims of physical abuse. Much of the well-controlled, theoretically guided research is rooted in methodology designed to search for group differences between abused children and a comparison group. Given the recognized...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Violence and victims 1991-01, Vol.6 (1), p.57-73
Main Authors: Schellenbach, Cynthia J., Trickett, Penelope K., Susman, Elizabeth J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ability
Behavior
Behavioral Sciences
Biological and medical sciences
Case studies
Child
Child abuse & neglect
Child Abuse - psychology
Counseling
Emotional abuse
Humans
Individuality
Male
Marriage and Family Counselling
Medical sciences
Parent-Child Relations
Personality Development
Policy, Social Justice, and Human Rights
Preschool children
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
R&D
Research & development
Self esteem
Social and Personality Psychology
Social Work
Temperament
Twins, Dizygotic - psychology
Victimology
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Summary:Numerous and heterogeneous symptoms of maladjustment have been documented among victims of physical abuse. Much of the well-controlled, theoretically guided research is rooted in methodology designed to search for group differences between abused children and a comparison group. Given the recognized methodological problems in constructing appropriate comparison groups for abused children, this study is designed to examine alternative methodological approaches. The purpose of the study is to utilize a case study to illustrate the utility of a multimethod approach to highlight intraindividual variation in the impact of abuse. This study of physically abused twin boys demonstrates that differential patterns of findings are revealed by standardized assessment in comparison to behavioral observation. The results underscore intraindividual variation in the impact of abuse. It is suggested that innate temperamental factors interact with parent-child interaction patterns to account for such intraindividual variation.
ISSN:0886-6708
1945-7073
DOI:10.1891/0886-6708.6.1.57