Empathic responding in children of battered mothers

The present study assessed the empathic abilities of children whose mothers had been the targets of conjugal violence. Thirty-two mothers and their preschool children served as subjects. There were equal numbers of boys and girls. Half of the mothers had a history of having been abused by their husbands while the other half came from non-violent relationships. The instability of the abused mothers' familial relationships was further established by means of a Home Climate Questionnaire. Analysis of this instrument revealed that although abusive husbands were not reported to be physically violent with their children, they were more verbally aggressive than their non-abusive counterparts. Four measures assessed the empathic abilities of the children: role-enactment, social inference, role-taking, and social behavior. A 2-way MANOVA (multivariate analysis of variance) run on these measures indicated a significant main effects of groups on all but the social behavior measure. There was also a significant groups by sex of child interaction on the role-taking measure. The results suggest the early and pervasive influence which marital discord may have on the empathic abilities of young children. Both direct and vicariously mediated forces may influence this facet of the child's social development.