Representations of self and other in the narratives of neglected ...

Development and Psychopathology, 9 (1997), 781–796 Copyright  1997 Cambridge University Press Printed in the United States of America

Representations of self and other in the narratives of neglected, physically abused, and sexually abused preschoolers

SHEREE L. TOTH,a DANTE CICCHETTI,a JENNY MACFIE,a ROBERT N. EMDEb a b

AND

Mt. Hope Family Center and The University of Rochester; and The University of Colorado

Abstract The MacArthur Story Stem Battery was used to examine maternal and self-representations in neglected, physically abused, sexually abused, and nonmaltreated comparison preschool children. The narratives of maltreated children contained more negative maternal representations and more negative self-representations than did the narratives of nonmaltreated children. Maltreated children also were more controlling with and less responsive to the examiner. In examining the differential impact of maltreatment subtype differences on maternal and self-representations, physically abused children evidenced the most negative maternal representations; they also had more negative selfrepresentations than nonmaltreated children. Sexually abused children manifested more positive self-representations than neglected children. Despite these differences in the nature of maternal and self-representations, physically and sexually abused children both were more controlling and less responsive to the examiner. The investigation adds to the corpus of knowledge regarding disturbances in the self-system functioning of maltreated children and provides support for relations between representational models of self and other and the self-organizing function that these models exert on children’s lives.

Conceptualizations regarding the ontogeny of the self frequently include the assumption that an understanding of who we are as individuals emerges from the context of social relationships (Harter, 1983). Thus, it is not surprising that many theoreticians and researchers have focused on the relation between childhood Drs. Toth and Cicchetti acknowledge the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Network for Early Childhood Transitions and the Spunk Fund Inc. They also thank the Monroe County Department of Social Services for their help in the recruitment of participants. Dr. Cicchetti’s work is also funded by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. Dr. Emde’s work is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health Project Grant M1122803, Research Scientist Award 5 K02 MH36808, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Network for Early Childhood Transitions. Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Sheree L. Toth, Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester, 187 Edinburgh Street, Rochester, NY 14608.

histories and self-development. Moreover, based on the role of early caregiving, it is likely that experiences of negative parenting will contribute to disturbances in the self-system. Because child maltreatment involves extreme distortions in the home environment (Rogosch, Cicchetti, Shields, & Toth, 1995), investigations of the effects of maltreatment can enhance our understanding of the relation between caregiving and self-system processes. An organizational perspective on development, which posits that development involves a series of reorganizations among and within psychological and biological systems that take place by means of increasing differentiation, hierarchical integration, and self-organization (Cicchetti & Schneider–Rosen, 1986; Sroufe & Waters, 1977; Werner & Kaplan, 1963), is especially germane to our conceptualization of the relation between caregiving and self-system processes. In applying the organizational

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perspective to the study of the self, Sroufe (1990) described the self as emerging from an organized caregiving matrix. Accordingly, the early transactions between parent and infant promote the emergence of the self, which is viewed as an internally organized cluster of attitudes, expectations, meanings, and feelings. Sroufe (1996) eloquently describes how the infant’s developing experience shifts from the interactional regulation of emotions in early infancy to more internalized regulatory capacities in later infancy and toddlerhood. Initially infants are largely recipients of parental care, but as development proceeds, they become more active and begin to exert more of an influence on the interactional process. Early caregiving experiences thus have important implications for the development of the self. Specifically, caregiving histories influence how individuals respond to and engage or avoid their environments, as well as how they interpret experiences with others. An especially rich body of work examining the effects of caregiving on the self-system has emanated from the area of attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969/1982; Cassidy, 1990; Cummings & Cicchetti, 1990). Because maltreatment represents an extreme departure from an “average expectable” caregiving environment (Cicchetti & Lynch, 1995), examinations of children who have been maltreated provide insights on the role of caregiving on the emerging self-system. Specifically, the experience of maltreatment during childhood may lead to self-system dysfunction that includes the development of negative representational models of attachment figures, the self, and the self in relation to others (Cicchetti, 1991; Crittenden & Ainsworth, 1989; Toth, Manly, & Cicchetti, 1992). Beginning in infancy, maltreated children consistently evidence a greater percentage of insecure attachment relations with their primary caregivers than do nonmaltreated infants (Cicchetti & Barnett, 1991; Crittenden, 1988). Typically, these insecure attachments are of a “disorganized/disoriented” type (Carlson, Cicchetti, Barnett, & Braunwald, 1989). Insecure attachments also have been evidenced into the school-age years, where maltreated youngsters have been shown to exhibit more inse-

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cure (“confused”) and less secure (“optimal”) patterns of relatedness when asked about various relationship figures, including their mothers, teachers, and best friends (Lynch & Cicchetti, 1991). Toth and Cicchetti (1996) also found that maltreated children’s positive or negative representations of their mothers affected the symptomatology that the children exhibited. Specifically, maltreated children with nonoptimal (insecure) patterns of relatedness with their mothers evidenced elevated depressive symptomatology and lower competence. Data such as these suggest linkages between maltreatment and insecure attachment relations that affect both self-views and views of the self in relation to others. Moreover, Lynch and Cicchetti (1991) and Toth and Cicchetti (1996) have found substantial concordance among children’s reports of relationships with mothers, teachers, and best friends. Howes and Segal (1993) similarly found that maltreated infants and toddlers were just as likely to have insecure attachment relationships with alternative caregivers as they were with their maltreating mothers. Taken together, the confluence of the findings from these investigations suggest that children who have insecure attachment relationships with their mothers are likely to generalize these models to future relationships. The tendency of maltreated children to approach new situations similarly to what would be expected based on prior experiences is consistent with Crittenden’s (1990) conceptualization of closed representational models. According to Crittenden, children’s representational models of attachment figures and of the self in relation to others can be either open to new interpretations and experiences, or closed to new experiences. The employment of closed representational models results in the interpretation of all behavior in accord with the existing model. Maladaptations also have been documented in the emerging self-systems of maltreated children (Cicchetti, Beeghly, Carlson, & Toth, 1990), with maltreated toddlers using less internal state language and manifesting negative affect in response to their mirror images (Cicchetti & Beeghly, 1987; Schneider–Rosen & Cicchetti, 1984, 1991). In

Representations of self and other

an investigation of the internal state language of maltreated and nonmaltreated toddlers during interactions with their mothers, Beeghly and Cicchetti (1994) found that the maltreated toddlers used fewer internal-state words, showed less differentiation in their attributional focus, and were more context-bound in their use of internal state language than their nonmaltreated peers. In addition, quality of attachment was found to be a potential protective factor, as differences were found in the self-language of maltreated children with or without secure attachment relationships. Maltreated children with insecure attachments to their mothers evidenced the most compromised internal state language. Because decreased self-language in maltreated children has been observed both in the presence of the mother and with a nonfamiliar adult, its absence seems to reflect an internalized, nonsituation-specific approach to the world that would be expected to influence the children’s future relationships (Emde, 1989). In an examination of the self-conscious emotions, Alessandri and Lewis (1996) also found differences between maltreated and nonmaltreated preschool children with respect to the expression of shame and pride. The fact that maltreated children speak less about their negative internal states than do nonmaltreated children is consistent with the findings of Crittenden and DiLalla (1988), who reported that during the latter half of the second year of life, some maltreated children learn not only to inhibit negative affect, but also to display false positive affect. These “overbright” presentations are not viewed as reflective of these children’s actual feelings, but rather are conceived as reflective of a “false self” (Winnicott, 1965) that has originated from caregiver disconfirmation of the child’s painful experience, resulting in a constriction of the child’s affective experience (Emde, 1989). In essence, because the child must present the self in a way that is deemed to be more acceptable to the caregiver, the child becomes disconnected from their actual affective experience. Evidence regarding the presence of exaggerated and over-inflated perceptions of competence in maltreated preschool and early school-age children (Vondra,

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Barnett, & Cicchetti, 1989, 1990) and the denial of authentic needs and feelings evidenced in toddlers (Crittenden & DiLalla, 1988) have lent further credence to the belief that maltreated children are prone to develop a “false self.” According to this conceptualization, maltreated children often act compulsively compliant with their caregivers (e.g., ignore their own needs in order to care for and please the parent) and display insincere positive affect (Crittenden, 1988; Crittenden & DiLalla, 1988). Distortions in self-representation that may be consistent with a “false self” also have been reported to be present in sexually abused girls. Calverly, Fischer, and Ayoub (1994) found splitting of self-representations in sexually abused adolescent girls. Specifically, sexually abused girls viewed negative characteristics as central to their core self and produced a large number of negative self-statements. However, unlike nonabused girls, sexually abused girls also showed a form of dissociative coordination referred to as polarized affective splitting, where dichotomized self-representations such as “good” or “bad” were described without any effort to reconcile the contradictory nature of these self-descriptions. Moreover, many of the sexually abused girls also split their senses of self-in-relationship with parents into strong negative for their relationship with mother and strong positive for their relationship with father. Because these results were obtained in an adolescent population of sexually abused girls, it was impossible to determine whether similar processes would be operative in a younger population. However, evidence of a trajectory leading from inadequate caregiving to self-dysfunction is mounting. With regard to possible relations between self-system functioning and clinically relevant symptomatology, the literature on the sequelae of child maltreatment has revealed the presence of a number of problems in these children that is consistent with a vulnerability for self-system dysfunction, including depression. Maltreated children often have been characterized as evidencing low self-esteem (Egeland, Sroufe, & Erickson, 1983; Kaufman & Cicchetti, 1989), and as exhibiting

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problematic social functioning when compared with nonmaltreated children (Egeland, Sroufe, & Erickson, 1983). Because of the early impaired attachment relations evidenced by maltreated children, it is not surprising that these children are at risk for the emergence of depression. In fact, a number of investigators have found that maltreated children from both hospitalized and community samples evidence more depressive symptomatology than do nonmaltreated comparison groups (Allen & Tarnowski, 1989; Kaufman, 1991; Kazdin, Moser, Colbus, & Bell, 1985; Toth et al., 1992). Additionally, in reviewing retrospective studies on the childhood experiences of adults who are suffering from depression, Bemporad and Romano (1992) found a significantly greater history of childhood maltreatment in unipolar depressives than in nonpsychiatrically disordered controls or in other diagnostic groups. Thus, it appears that early disturbances in self-organization place maltreated children at risk for the emergence of depression. In order to extend the observational methods utilized during infancy, toddlerhood, and the preschool years and to supplement the self-report assessments given to school-age children regarding their representations of relationship figures, investigators have necessarily needed to develop new strategies that elucidate representations of self and of self in relation to others. One such measure, the MacArthur Story Stem Battery (MSSB; Bretherton, Oppenheim, Buchsbaum, Emde, & the MacArthur Narrative Group, 1990) has been used with preschool-age children to assess emotional processes and representations of self and of relationship figures (Buchsbaum & Emde, 1990; Buchsbaum, Toth, Clyman, Cicchetti, & Emde, 1992; Warren, Oppenheim, & Emde, 1996). In a study using an early version of the MSSB, Buchsbaum and Emde (1990) found that middle class children as young as 36 months of age could articulate coherent stories about rules, reciprocity, empathy, and prohibitions. These children also were able to struggle with alternative outcomes to resolve a moral dilemma. Bretherton, Ridgeway, and Cassidy (1990) also used

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a narrative story stem technique that was a precursor to the MSSB to explore attachment themes in 3-year-old children and found that the children represented resolutions to attachment-related stories that were concordant with the attachment classifications obtained from a separation-reunion procedure. Thus, the results of these studies suggested that the narrative technique offered a promising method for investigating early emotional and moral development and family relationships in preschoolers. More recently, Oppenheim and his colleagues have begun to examine relations between the MSSB and other measures of children’s emotional functioning. Oppenheim, Emde, and Warren (1997) investigated associations between children’s representations of mothers in the MSSB and children’s and mothers’ socioemotional adaptation. The development of the children’s representations between 4 and 5 years of age also was examined. Children who had more narrative representations of mother as Positive and Disciplinary, and fewer representations of mother as Negative were found to exhibit fewer behavior problems. The mothers of these children also reported less psychological distress. A developmental progression wherein 5 year olds had more Positive and Disciplinary representations of mothers than 4 year olds also was reported, and moderate stability in children’s representations of mothers was attained (Oppenheim, Emde, & Warren, 1997). In a related study, Oppenheim and his colleagues (Oppenheim, Nir, Warren, & Emde, 1997) found that children who were more emotionally coherent in a co-construction narrative task with their mothers had MSSB narratives that were more coherent, and that contained more prosocial and less aggressive themes. These children similarly evidenced fewer behavior problems concurrently and over a 1year period. Thus, based on studies conducted with a predominantly middle-class group of Caucasian children, investigators have found that the MSSB paradigm is useful in elucidating children’s representations of caregivers. Most importantly with respect to the validity of this paradigm, children’s representations have


been shown to be related to their socioemotional adaptation, both concurrently and over a one-year period. However, it has not yet been determined whether the MSSB is equally effective for elucidating emotional processes in socially disadvantaged high risk groups of children, nor whether such children will exhibit profiles on the MSSB that are similar to those evidenced by more advantaged children. Therefore, the utilization of the MSSB with high risk children represents an important extension of work to date. Moreover, because the extreme caregiving environments experienced by maltreated children are expected to be reflected in the children’s narrative accounts, utilization of the MSSB with disadvantaged maltreated children is especially important. The nonnormative caregiving experiences of the maltreated children are expected to influence their narratives, and, specifically, to result in more negative representations of caregivers and of the self. In fact, differences in narratives between children with different caregiving histories will further support the validity of the MSSB as a method for elucidating the effects of caregiving experiences on narrative representations. Some preliminary support for the use of the narrative method with maltreated children has been obtained. In a theoretical and clinical descriptive paper on the narratives of maltreated and nonmaltreated socially disadvantaged preschoolers, Buchsbaum, Toth, Clyman, Cicchetti, and Emde (1992) concluded that maltreated and nonmaltreated children could be differentiated based on their narrative responses, and that the narrative story stem technique could be useful in guiding assessment and intervention with clinical populations. In the current investigation, we expected that maltreated preschoolers would differ significantly from nonmaltreated preschoolers in the narratives that they constructed. We hypothesized that the narratives of maltreated children would contain more negative and fewer positive maternal representations, as well as more negative and fewer positive selfrepresentations. Maltreated children also were expected to be more controlling during the assessment paradigm and to evidence less en-

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joyment and responsivity during their interactions with the examiner. Although specific patterns among subtypes of maltreatment were not hypothesized, in view of prior findings of split self-representations in sexually abused adolescents, we were especially interested in exploring possible differences among sexually abused children and those experiencing neglect or physical abuse.

Method Participants Participants in this investigation included 107 preschool children, with a mean age of 5.02 years (range 3.8–5.8 years, SD = .43). Sixtytwo percent of the sample was male, and 46.7% of the sample was of minority status, including 29.9% African American and 16.8% Hispanic children. Eighty children attended a preschool for children who had been designated by the Department of Social Services as in need of intervention due to concerns related to child abuse and neglect. These children had experienced a range of types of maltreatment, including neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. Seventy-one percent of the children had experienced multiple subtypes of abuse. This co-occurrence of subtypes of maltreatment is congruent with that reported in the literature (Cicchetti & Rizley, 1981). For all children, mothers had been the perpetrator of at least one subtype of maltreatment. Twenty-seven comparison children were recruited from families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) because the majority of maltreating families were receiving this income supplement. The nonmaltreatment status of the comparison group was verified by checking the DSS State Central Child Abuse Registry after having obtained the families’ consent to do so. Maltreatment subtype classification was determined by coding each child’s clinical record, based on a modification of the Barnett, Manly, and Cicchetti (1993) maltreatment classification system. The presence/absence of Neglect, Physical Abuse, and Sexual Abuse was assessed and severity ratings from 1 (mild) to 3 (severe), were assigned. Informa-

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tion on the perpetrator of maltreatment also was recorded. All coding was completed by Ph.D. level psychologists or Doctoral students in clinical psychology who had no prior knowledge of the family situation. Twenty percent of the sample was coded for reliability and κ obtained for each subtype were: Neglect, κ = 0.45 (agreement range 65–95%); Physical Abuse, κ = 0.81 (agreement range 85–100%); and Sexual Abuse, κ = 0.71 (agreement range 85–95%). Information from Child Protective Services records also was incorporated into subtype determinations in order to attain a comprehensive assessment of children’s experiences. Because the majority of children had experienced more than one form of maltreatment, subtype classifications were made based on a hierarchical assignment to primary subtype categories. The 80 children were subdivided as follows. Children who had experienced only neglect were classified Neglected (n = 21). Children who had experienced physical abuse with or without the co-occurrence of neglect were classified as Physically Abused (n = 36). A designation of Sexual Abuse was made when this type of abuse occurred, whether or not neglect and/or physical abuse also were present (n = 23). Maltreated and nonmaltreated children were comparable with respect to receptive vocabulary, child age, minority status and child gender. Although differences emerged between groups on a number of variables, including years on AFDC, number of children in the family, and single mothers, these variables were not correlated with the dependent variables of interest and therefore were not controlled for in subsequent analyses. Demographic information is included in Table 1.

members. Each story stem involved a combination of family dolls, including a mother, father and two same-sex children, with one being younger. The gender and race of the dolls were matched to that of the child. Household toy props also were utilized. Each session began with a practice story in which the examiner familiarized the child with the procedure and attempted to establish rapport. For each narrative the child was instructed to “Listen to the beginning of the story, and then finish it any way you would like to.” Following the presentation of the story stem, the examiner asked the child to “Show me and tell me what happens now.” Story stems addressed a number of content areas, including child injury, oppositionality, exclusion, parental conflict, stealing, family interaction, and prohibition in the face of temptation (for the story stems utilized, refer to Buchsbaum et al., 1992). Narratives were coded according to the MacArthur Narrative Coding Manual (Robinson, Mantz–Simmons, & Macfie, 1992). This coding system involves a presence–absence method of coding content and controllingness, and a continuous scale for coding the quality of the child’s relationship with the examiner. Codings were completed independently by two raters who were unaware of children’s group status. Twenty percent of the sample was coded by both raters, and adequate reliability was obtained for all variables of interest, including κ of .71 for Maternal Representations, .88 for Positive Self-Representation, .73 for Negative Self-Representation, .62 for Controllingness, and a correlation of ri = .63 for the continuous variable of Relationship with the Examiner. The κ for the self-representation variables were averaged from the individual content code κ.

Procedures

Variables

All children were administered 10 narrative story stems in individual sessions that lasted approximately 45 min. Sessions were videotaped through a one way mirror. The narrative story stems were selected from the MSSB (Bretherton et al., 1990). The MSSB contains story beginnings that describe a range of emotionally laden interactions among family

Dependent variables for this investigation were chosen in order to examine possible differences between maltreated and nonmaltreated children on maternal representation, self-representation, and interactional style with the examiner. Maternal and self-representations were derived from narrative content, whereas interactional style was coded


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Table 1. Demographic information for maltreated and nonmaltreated groups Nonmaltreated (n = 27) Variables Child age PPVT Children in home Adults in home Family Hollingshead Years on AFDC

% Female % Minority race Single mother

Maltreated (n = 80)

M

SD

M

SD

t

4.98 90.68 2.37 1.48 23.13 3.33

0.44 18.68 1.08 0.61 8.31 3.17

5.04 83.26 3.11 1.68 20.77 5.42

0.42 11.46 1.77 0.75 8.36 3.99

−0.64 1.77 −2.51* −1.22 1.25 −2.28*

Percentage

Percentage

χ2

44 33 87

36 51 57

0.57 2.60 5.98*

*p < .05.

based on child behavior during the narrative administration. Positive and negative maternal representations were coded depending on the child’s enactment of the mother doll’s role in each narrative. Positive and negative maternal representations were coded zero or one for each narrative and then summed across narratives. Positive maternal representations included behavior that was protective, caretaking, affectionate, and helpful. For example, the mother character comforting a frightened child character would be coded as positive maternal representation. Negative maternal representations were reflected in behavior that was harsh, rejecting, or ineffectual. For example, the mother doll screaming “I hate you” to the child character would be coded as negative maternal representation. Positive and negative self-representations were derived by compositing a number of content theme variables and summing across narratives. Positive self-representations involved narrative content including empathy/ helping (a character exhibits an understanding of the thoughts and feelings of another, or helps another character), compliance (a character follows rules), affection (a character engages in hugs, kisses, or praise), and affiliation (two or more characters engage in a positive activity together). Negative self-rep-

resentations involved aggression (a character engages in hostile, destructive behaviors, either verbally or physically), noncompliance (a character ignores rules, or does something in opposition to the rule), and shame (a character exhibits signs of embarrassment or makes self-reproaching statements). Content themes within both self-composites were discrete in that each of these narrative events could receive only one content theme code. However, maternal representations and the two selfcomposites were not mutually exclusive (e.g., a code of negative maternal representation and a component of the self-representation composite such as aggression could both be coded from an instance of maternal aggression). Although content codes do not distinguish between child and parent characters, this is true for both positive and negative codes, thus minimizing any possible disparity between the positive and negative categories. The number of content themes in each category were summed across all narratives, converted to z scores, and mean content themes were generated. The composites of positive and negative self were then configured. Because all content themes were generated by the child, these composites were considered to be consistent with the world view that the child has incorporated and which contributes to the child’s sense of self.

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In addition to these narrative content codes, two variables that captured the child’s actual behavior during the narrative administration were of interest. The Controllingness variable refers to attempts by the child to either control the situation or the examiner; this is coded using a presence/absence method when one or more controlling acts or statements occur during the introduction of the story stem, during the narrative, and during the transition between stories. Totals across these episodes were composited to derive a summary score. The child’s Relationship with the examiner, defined as the degree of enjoyment and eagerness evidenced by the child in response to the examiner’s prompts to respond to the story stems, also was a variable of interest. Scores on this variable ranged from 1 (child does not respond to the examiner, no pleasure is seen, gaze is averted) to 5 (child enjoys the task, never hesitates to respond to the examiner, frequently smiles and makes eye contact). Scores were averaged across narratives to derive a summary score. Results Data analytic strategy Pearson Product Moment Correlations were computed on the variables of interest in order to examine their inter-relationships. In order to test the hypothesis regarding differences between maltreated and nonmaltreated children, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted. A MANOVA was then conducted to examine differences among subtypes of maltreatment and the nonmaltreated comparison group. Finally, a MANOVA was conducted within the maltreatment group to examine the effect of mother as the perpetrator of the primary subtype of maltreatment on the outcome variables. Correlations among dependent variables A number of relations were discovered between the dependent variables. As would be expected, positive self-representations and negative self-representations were negatively correlated (r = −.23, p < .05). Interestingly, posi-

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tive and negative maternal representations were not significantly correlated. A significant correlation also was obtained between the positive maternal representation variable and positive self-representation (r = .38, p < .0001), as well as between the negative maternal representation variable and negative selfrepresentation (r = .50, p < .0001). Some portion of the variance in these correlations between self and maternal representations is accounted for by the nonexclusivity of the respective content codes. Interestingly, although in the expected direction, significant correlations were not obtained between positive maternal representation and negative child selfrepresentation or between negative maternal representation and positive child self-representation. A significant correlation also was attained between negative maternal representation and child controllingness (r = .26, p < .01), as well as for child controllingness and the positive (r = −.22, p < .05) and negative (r = .45, p < .0001) self variables. Finally, negative self-representation was negatively correlated with the relationship with the examiner (r = −.28, p < .01), as well as with child controllingness (r = −.26, p < .01). The correlation matrix is presented in Table 2. Maltreated versus nonmaltreated group differences A MANOVA was conducted to examine group differences between maltreated and nonmaltreated children. Subsequent univariate F tests were conducted to test the hypotheses that maltreated children would evidence less positive and more negative maternal representations, less positive and more negative selfrepresentations, more controllingness, and a less positive relationship with the examiner. As predicted, an overall significant effect for maltreatment status was revealed (F(6, 100) = 6.41, p < .0001). Univariate F tests revealed that negative maternal representation, negative self-representation, controllingness, and relationship with the examiner all contributed to the between group differences. Maltreated and nonmaltreated children differed with respect to maternal representations, F(1, 105) = 8.30, p < .01, with the narratives of maltreated


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Table 2. Correlations among dependent variables Maternal Representation Negative Maternal representation Negative Positive Self-representation Negative Positive Controllingness Relationship with examiner

Positive

Negative

— —

— —

— −.08

Relationship With Positive Controllingness Examiner

Self-Representation

−.50**** −.17 — −.14 .38**** −.23* .26** −.13 .45**** −.17 −.01 −.28**

— —

— —

— —

— — −.22* .04

— — — −.26**

— — — —

*p < .05. **p < .01. ****p < .0001.

Table 3. Means and standard deviations for maltreated and nonmaltreated groups on dependent variables

Maternal representation Negative** Positive Self-representation Negative**** Positive Controllingness**** Relationship with examiner****

Nonmaltreated (n = 27)

Maltreated (n = 80)

M

SD

M

SD

−0.47 0.11

.71 1.20

0.14 −0.01

1.03 .94

−0.57 0.08 −0.68 0.72

.70 .70 .57 1.07

0.19 −0.02 0.23 −0.21

1.01 .51 1.01 .88

**p < .01. ****p < .0001.

children containing more negative maternal representations (M = .14) than the narratives of nonmaltreated children (M = −.47). Maltreated and nonmaltreated children also differed with respect to negative self-representation F(1, 105) = 13.21, p < .0001, with the narratives of maltreated children containing more negative self-representations (M = .19) than those of nonmaltreated children (M = −.57). Differences between maltreated and nonmaltreated children also were revealed on controllingness F(1, 105) = 19.41, p < .0001 and relationship with the examiner F(1, 105) = 20.25, p < .0001. Maltreated children were more controlling in their interactions with the examiner (M = .23) than nonmaltreated children (M = −.68) and maltreated children also evidenced a less positive relationship with the

examiner (M = −.21) than did nonmaltreated children (M = .72). Table 3 contains the means and standard deviations. Subtypes of maltreatment In order to examine the effects of subtypes of maltreatment on the dependent variables, a MANOVA was conducted with maltreatment subtype (comparison, neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse) as the independent variable. This analysis revealed an overall significant effect for maltreatment subtype, F(18, 278) = 3.69, p < .0001. Consistent with the univariate tests for maltreatment status, separate univariate F tests also resulted in significance on negative maternal representation F(3, 103) = 7.04, p < .0001; positive self-representation

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Table 4. Means and standard deviations for subtype of maltreatment on dependent variables Nonmaltreated (n = 27)

Negative maternal representation**** Positive maternal representation Negative selfrepresentation*** Positive selfrepresentation** Controllingness**** Relationship with examiner***

Neglect (n = 21)

Physical Abuse (n = 36)

Sexual Abuse (n = 23)

M

SD

M

SD

M

SD

M

SD

−0.47b

0.71

−0.13b

0.67

0.53 a

1.21

−0.23b

0.77

0.11

1.20

−0.09

0.79

−0.08

1.00

0.17

.97

−0.57b

0.70

0.06

1.07

0.41 a

0.94

−0.02

1.04

0.08 a −0.68

0.70 0.57

−0.23a 0.01

0.39 0.79

−0.09 b 0.27

0.48 1.16

0.28b b 0.36

0.52 0.95

a

1.07

0.08

0.90

−0.43

0.68

−0.12

1.06

0.72

b

b

**p < .01. ***p < .001. ****p < .0001. Groups with different superscripts differ significantly.

F(3, 103) = 3.82, p < .01; negative self-representation F(3, 103) = 5.69, p < .001; controllingness F(3, 103) = 7.00, p < .0001; and relationship with the examiner F(3, 103) = 8.30, p < .0001. Means and standard deviations are presented in Table 4. Tukey post hoc comparisons were conducted to examine differences among maltreatment subtypes. All reported comparisons are significant at p < .05 or better. Physically abused children (M = .53) evidenced the most negative maternal representations, and they differed significantly from nonmaltreated (M = −.47), neglected (M = −.13), and sexually abused (M = −.27) children. Sexually abused children manifested more positive self-representations (M = .28) than neglected children (M = −.23). Although not attaining statistical significance, it is interesting that sexually abused children evidenced even higher levels of positive self-representation than did the nonmaltreated children (M = .08). Physically abused children had more negative self-representations (M = .41) than nonmaltreated children (M = −.57), who were lowest on this variable. Both physically abused (M = .27) and sexually abused (M = .36) children exhibited more controlling behavior than nonmaltreated children (M = −.68). Nonmaltreated children evidenced a more positive re-

lationship with the examiner (M = .72), differing significantly from physically (M = −.43) and sexually abused (M = −.12) children. Effect of perpetrator To examine possible associations between the perpetrator of maltreatment and the dependent variables, analyses were conducted on cases of maltreatment where the mother was the perpetrator of the primary subtype of maltreatment. With respect to basic descriptive information, mothers were named as perpetrators in 100% of the cases involving neglect, in 83% of the cases involving physical abuse, and in 9% of the cases involving sexual abuse. Mothers were perpetrators of the primary subtype of maltreatment in 66% of all cases, although, as noted above, they were the perpetrator of at least one subtype of maltreatment in all cases, even when they were not the perpetrator of the primary subtype. A MANOVA (F(6, 73) = 1.75, p = .12) within the maltreated group revealed that there are no effects that are attributable to mother as the perpetrator of the primary subtype of maltreatment. However, the absence of relations between mother as the perpetrator of the primary subtype of maltreatment and outcome


on the dependent variables may be largely because mothers were named as a perpetrator of one type of maltreatment in all cases, even if they were not the perpetrator of the primary form of maltreatment. Discussion The current study adds to the corpus of knowledge regarding disturbances in the selfsystem functioning evidenced by children who have been maltreated. The fact that representational models of self were related to interactions with an unfamiliar adult is noteworthy and underscores the potential self-organizing function that may be operative in maltreated children’s relationships. As predicted, maltreated children differed from nonmaltreated children on a number of representational variables, including having more negative representations of maternal figures and of the self. Consistent with these negative self and maternal representations, on the behavioral level maltreated children also were more controlling and less responsive to the examiner. The fact that the maltreated children evidenced more negative maternal and self-representations as well as behaved in a more controlling and less responsive manner with the examiner is consistent with theoretical perspectives on open versus closed representational models of relationships (Crittenden, 1990) and is in accord with prior investigations of maltreated children that have found that these youngsters tend to generalize representational models to new situations and relationship figures, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will perpetuate their negative relationship histories (Howes & Segal, 1993; Lynch & Cicchetti, 1991; Toth & Cicchetti, 1996). Commensurate with prior findings, these data suggest that maltreated children may play an active role in enacting social behavior with new relationship partners that will confirm their negative representational models of self and other. Moreover, it is equally likely that potentially positive relationships may be adversely affected by the expectations that maltreated children carry forward into new situations, thereby increasing the likelihood that such children will experi-

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ence continued rejection. In essence, once the assaults of negative caregiving become incorporated into the self-system of young children, their representational models may be enacted in subsequent novel situations, thereby setting the stage for a potentially life long series of maladaptive relationships. Although one could argue that a self-protective stance wherein maltreated children are mistrusting of and/or misinterpret the intentions of others is adaptive within a maltreating environment, it is highly unlikely that such behavior will serve a positive function in nonmaltreating environments. Rather, in accord with an organizational perspective on development, the maltreated children in this investigation largely generalized their maladaptive histories to a novel situation, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will continue to experience difficulties as they are faced with new stage salient issues of development, such as peer relationships and adaptation to school. In fact, although not longitudinally following children in order to specify how attachment history and subsequent representational models of self and other may impact on adaptation, difficulties with peer relationships, adaptation to school, and problematic relationships into adulthood have been found in individuals who have experienced maltreatment (for a review, see Cicchetti & Toth, 1995). Our findings are quite powerful in providing support for an attachment-informed model of development, in which the relationship with the parent is viewed as contributing to evolving models of self and of self in relation to others. We are currently conducting research that will enable us to examine relations between attachment and narratives in maltreated and nonmaltreated preschool children. Interestingly, differences were not revealed between maltreated and nonmaltreated children on positive maternal or positive self-representation, thereby suggesting that although maltreated children may be equivalent to nonmaltreated youngsters in their positive views of self and other, it is the preponderance of negative representations that appear to drive their behavior and that contribute to their difficulties in developing satisfying and meaningful relationships. Alternatively, it may be

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that the positive maternal and self-representations of maltreated children are “defensive.” This possibility receives some support from the findings that positive maternal and positive self-representations have lower correlations with the child behavior variables than do negative maternal representations and negative self-representations. Additionally, the correlations are higher for negative maternal and self-representations than they are for positive maternal and self-representations. Although the findings on maltreated versus nonmaltreated children are compelling, they obfuscate some of the more complex differences among children who have experienced varied subtypes of maltreatment. Nonmaltreated children continued to manifest a less negative self-representation and to have a less controlling and more positive relationship with the examiner. Children who had been physically abused evidenced more negative maternal representations, as well as more negative representations of self. Consistent with the overall data on maltreated versus nonmaltreated youngsters, physically abused children (and sexually abused children) also were more controlling and had a less positive relationship with the examiner. Interestingly, sexually abused children exhibited the most positive self-representation, and differed significantly from neglected children, who evidenced the lowest positive self-representation. It is noteworthy that the positive self-representations of the sexually abused children were even higher than those of the nonmaltreated children, although this difference did not attain statistical significance. The fact that the sexually abused children had a high level of positive self-representations raises the possibility that these representations are not genuine but are more consistent with the “false self” that has been described in the literature. This possibility must be given even more credence when one considers that despite this seemingly positive sense of self, the sexually abused children were comparable to the physically abused children with respect to the negative aspects of their relationship with the examiner. Thus, although one would expect some concordance between maternal and self negative representations such as that seen in

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physically abused children, this pattern is not evident in the sexually abused children, suggesting a form of dysynchrony between representations and behavior in sexually abused children. These data are useful in helping to explain the discrepant findings that have emerged regarding the adaptation of sexually abused children, with some studies reporting no adverse sequelae of sexual abuse and others finding that the children are experiencing significant difficulties (Kendall–Tackett, Williams, & Finkelhor, 1993). Unlike the findings of Calverley et al. (1994) with sexually abused adolescent girls, the current investigation did not reveal a negative self-bias in sexually abused children, nor did it find that sexually abused girls were prone to negative views of self in relation to mother. It may well be that representations such as those found by Calverley and her colleagues are not evident during the preschool years, only becoming consolidated as children approach the adolescent years. Such an interpretation also is consistent with increases in depression that have been found as children approach adolescence, possibly suggesting that there is something about shifts in self-organization that may result in increased vulnerability to depressive illness (Cicchetti & Toth, in press; Gjerde & Block, 1996). If so, it may be especially important to intervene with sexually abused children prior to the emergence of splitting of self and of self in relation to others. The meaning of the different patterns evidenced by neglected and physically abused children on the self-representation variables also must be examined. Whereas physically abused children have high levels of negative self-representation, it is the neglected children who have low levels of positive self-representation. Thus, these two groups of maltreated children differ in the positive versus negative valence of their self-views. The fact that neglected children have the restricted positive self-representations is consistent with the reality of these children’s lives, in which they most likely receive minimal attention to their basic needs. In essence, the neglect that they experience may impede their overall development of self. Conversely, physically abused children, although also confronted with par-


enting dysfunction, may experience periods during which they are responded to, possibly even positively, by their physically abusive parents. Thus, it may well be that physically abused children are more likely to develop some sense of self as positive, whereas neglected children have far fewer opportunities to do so. Additionally, the tendency for neglect to be a more ongoing, chronic condition involving parental acts of omission, whereas physical abuse may involve intermittent acts of commission also may be influencing the differences evidenced between these groups of children. The fact that physically abused children also seem to accurately perceive the negativity of their caregiving environments, as evidenced by their elevated negative maternal representations, attests to a possible strength that they possess. It may be more realistic to help a child move beyond a history of maltreatment if they are in touch with its negativity than it is if they are prone to deny the realities with which they have been confronted. In fact, investigators have found that it is those individuals who are able to recollect their histories of maltreatment with anger who are the most likely to be able to move beyond their experiences of maltreatment, thereby breaking intergenerational cycles of maltreatment (Hunter & Kihlstrom, 1979). The current investigation provides further validation for the MSSB, as the narratives of maltreated and nonmaltreated children differed as a function of their caregiving histories. The utility of the MSSB with a high-risk population confirms that this paradigm is useful not only with advantaged groups of children, but also with economically disadvantaged and culturally diverse children. Based on this study, it is likely that the MSSB can be used equally effectively with other risk populations. Of course the limitations of this study also must be considered. First, the coding system utilized did not allow for the clear separation of maternal representations from the variables composited to reflect self-representations. Consequently, we were not able to examine possible relations between maternal and selfrepresentation. Although it might be preferable to separate narrative events as a function

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of which character is doing the action, with the assumption being that actions of child characters relate to self-representation, such an approach carries with it the belief that the child’s sense of self can be fully captured through somewhat arbitrary compartmentalization into externally imposed coding categories. Although methodologically much simpler, such a conceptualization is unlikely to reflect the totality of the child’s self. Rather, consistent with assumptions that guide the utilization of projective and semi-projective paradigms (Bellak & Bellak, 1991), it has been our assumption that the entirety of the story generated by the child reflects an expression of the child’s inner self. Moreover, although maternal and self-representations were not independent event categories, this situation is consistent with theoretical positions that experiences with the caregiver become internalized by the child and affect the child’s sense of self, as well as his or her approach to the world and other relationship figures (Cicchetti, 1991; Emde, 1989; Sroufe, 1990). Although it may be possible to consider actions of parent characters as reflective of the child’s view on parents, it is much more difficult to disentangle pieces of the narrative and attribute them solely to the child’s self-representation. Another limitation of the current investigation involves the absence of measures of child functioning that are independent of the narrative assessment. Ideally it would have been preferable to be able to link the narrative variables with other indicators of children’s perceptions of self or caregiver. Thus, although the diverse caregiving histories of the children and their behavior during the MSSB provide some linkages that are outside of the narrative frame, current findings could be strengthened by the incorporation of other concurrent measures of representation. In view of the differences evidenced among maltreated children, some interesting implications for intervention also can be derived from this investigation. Specifically, for sexually abused children intervention may need to address the genuineness of their representations of parent and of self, especially if the children are evidencing behavioral diffi-

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culties such as might be suggested by their controllingness and lack of responsivity to the examiner. For physically abused children, their high levels of negative representations and the possible generalization of these negative representations to other relationship figures might best be addressed by utilizing a therapeutic relationship to foster a more positive self-representation which, in turn, could result in greater receptivity to developing positive relationships with others. Finally, the low levels of positive self-representation evidenced by neglected children, in conjunction with their relatively average levels on other variables (e.g., differing neither from nonmaltreated children nor from other maltreated children) suggest that these children are at considerable risk for falling between the cracks of intervention systems that could bolster their sense of self. It is these children who may be most easily ignored, thereby perpetuating the experiences of neglect that have permeated their lives.

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The current investigation represents an important step in demonstrating the utility of the MSSB for elucidating representations of self and of self in relation to other in socioeconomically disadvantaged preschool children. As such, these findings supplement studies that have shown the usefulness of the narrative procedure with non-risk groups of children. The non-threatening nature of the MSSB facilitates children’s expression of important themes. Moreover, the fact that representations of maternal figures and of the self were consistent with predictions based on the caregiving histories of maltreated and nonmaltreated children further supports the MSSB method as providing a window into the child’s view of self and other. In addition to contributing to our knowledge of representation in maltreated children, the current investigation also supports the potential of this technique for clinical assessment and intervention purposes.

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