Physiological hyperreactivity to stressors in physical child abusers and individuals at risk for being physically abusive

doi:10.1016/S1359-1789(96)00004-3

Aggression and Violent Behavior

Volume 1, Issue 4, Winter 1996, Pages 345-358

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-1789(96)00004-3 Get rights and content

Abstract

Research on the physiological reactivity of physical child abusers and individuals at risk for being physically abusive is summarized and critiqued. Several theorists have hypothesized that physical child abusers experience physiological hyperreactivity to stressors, particularly stressful child interactions associated with child rearing. The experimental evidence generally supports the physiological hyperreactivity hypothesis, although there are some contradictory and inconsistent results within individual studies and across studies. The research also indicates that the physiological hyperreactivity of physical child abusers and those at risk for being physically abusive occurs during a wide variety of stimulus situations, including aversive child-related stimuli, nonaversive child-related stimuli, aversive nonchild-related stimuli, and during periods when no overt stimulus is present (resting or baseline periods). Recommendations concerning procedural and methodological improvements are made in order to enable future researchers to better address unresolved issues related to the physiological hyperreactivity hypothesis.

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Physiological hyperreactivity to stressors in physical child abusers and individuals at risk for being physically abusive

Abstract

Child Abuse and Neglect

Advances in Experimental Social Psychology

Child Abuse and Neglect

Child Abuse and Neglect

Child Abuse and Neglect

Child Abuse and Neglect

Clinical Psychology Review

Child Abuse and Neglect

Developmental Review

Infant Behavior and Development

A framework for understanding child maltreatment: An integration of cognitive behavioral and developmental perspectives

Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science

Training parents of abused children

Abusing, neglectful, and comparison mothers' responses to child-related and non-child-related stressors

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Aggression: A social psychological analysis

Some determinants of impulsive aggression: Role of mediated associations with reinforcements for aggression

Psychological Review

On the formulation and regulation of anger and aggression: A cognitive-neoassociationistic analysis

American Psychologist

Electromyographic activity over facial muscle regions can differentiate the valence and intensity of affective reactions

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Telling lies: Clues to deceit in the marketplace, politics, and marriage

Unmasking the face

Personality and psychophysiological variables in abusive, neglectful, and low income control mothers

Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease

When empathy fails: Aversive infant crying and child abuse

Child abusers' responses to infant smiles and cries

Child Development

Verbal and behavioral responsiveness to the cries of atypical infants

Child Development