Résultats de recherche

1. Objectifs

Intentions :
« The primary goal of this study was to assess the ability of maltreated school-age children and adolescents to understand the thoughts, feelings, and point of view of others. » (p. 207)

Question/Hypothèses :
« […] we expected that the maltreated children and adolescents would display deficient performance in relation to their same-age peers, thereby reflecting the severe and pervasive effects of histories of maltreatment on perspective-taking abilities. This is in contrast to a possible alternative hypothesis that children and adolescents with histories of maltreatment would show enhanced performance because of increased sensitivity to the cues and actions of others.
[…] we predicted that the maltreated youths who report high levels of self-worth would demonstrate better perspective-taking skills than those who report low levels.
[…] Consistent with the notion that strong perspective-taking skills promote present and future adaptation, we expected that levels of internalizing or externalizing symptoms would be associated with performance on the perspective-taking tasks within the group of maltreated children and adolescents. » (p. 209)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
« Levels 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. » (p. 207)
« The maltreated children and adolescents were recruited from social service agencies, group homes, and a program for youths with behavioural and emotional problems. The nonmaltreated children were recruited from local schools. » (p. 209)

Instruments :
- The Kaufman Brief Intelligence (K-BIT; Kaufman & Kaufman, 1990)
- The Parent-Child Relationship Checklist
- Chandler’s Bystander Cartoons Test (CBCT: Chandler, 1973)
- The Interpersonal Negotiation Strategies Interview (INS; Schults et al., 1989)
- The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC; Harter, 1985)
- The Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA; Harter, 1988)
- The Child Behavior Checklist-Teacher’s Report Form (CBCL-TRF; Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1986)

Types de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« The findings presented here are consistent with the hypothesis that maltreated children and adolescents with behavioural problems exhibit significant deficits in social perspective-taking skills. Even when marital status and a composite of externalizing behaviors were covaried, maltreated youths, in comparison to nonmaltreated youths, exhibited higher levels of age-inappropriate egocentric thinking and delays in differentiating and coordinating conflicted needs and points of view. The maltreated adolescents were more egocentric and used more impulsive, unilateral levels of perspective-taking coordination than their nonmaltreated peers. These differences were so pronounced that the overall level of perspective-taking ability attained by the maltreated adolescents was similar to that achieved by the nonmaltreated elementary schoolchildren. However, levels of perspective-taking ranged considerably among the maltreated children and adolescents, as those who displayed fewer internalizing and externalizing behaviors were better able to adopt the appropriate perspective. » (pp. 213-214)