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MALTREATED INFANTS: VULNERABILITY AND RESILIENCE
Author(s) -
Crittenden Patricia M.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1985.tb01630.x
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , vulnerability (computing) , intervention (counseling) , deviance (statistics) , child abuse , clinical psychology , poison control , injury prevention , medicine , psychiatry , medical emergency , statistics , computer security , mathematics , computer science
This study of maltreated infants offers evidence supporting a model of bidirectional effects in which the mother initiates the maltreatment but both mother and infant behave so as to maintain the situation. Maltreated infants were found not to differ from control infants in congenital characteristics. They did, however, display deviance in learned behavior patterns. After intervention with the mother the infants showed behavioral improvement. These results suggested that maltreated infants were not inherently different from other children and that they were resilient in response to environmental improvement. Their earlier behavior may, however, have functioned to maintain their mothers' maltreating responses.