A comparison of the mother‐child interactions of physically abused and non‐abused children during play and task situations

Physically abusive and non‐abusive mothers were observed interacting with their preschool aged children in both an unstructured play and a structured task situation. Mothers also completed several checklists describing their children and themselves. Abusive mothers perceived their children as having significantly more behavioral problems than non‐abusive mothers and although their ratings were about two standard deviations above the normative mean, there were no significant differences in the observed behaviors of abused versus non‐abused children. Abusive mothers were observed to be more directive and controlling of their children, but only for the more stressful task situation in which there were increased demands for performance placed on both mother and child. Abusive mothers reported higher levels of stress related to parenting than non‐abusive mothers, and these reports were correlated with their behavior during both the play and task situations. The findings were discussed in terms of the abusive mothers’ apparent failure to regulate their behavior in relation to the performance of their children and the possibility that such a response style is more likely to occur in the context of situationally induced stress.