INFANT ABUSE RUNS IN FAMILIES OF GROUP-LIVING PIGTAIL MACAQUES

Objective: The aims of this study were to investigate genealogical and demographic influences on maternal abuse and neglect of offspring in pigtail macaques and identify some maternal and infant characteristics that may be risk factors for abuse or neglect. Method: Infant abuse a nd neglect were investigated in five large families of group-living pi gtail macaques over a period of 33 years (5-7 generations). The data w ere obtained from the Animal Records of the Yerkes Regional Primate Re search Center. Results: Abuse and neglect are likely to be two distinc t phenomena in pigtail macaques. Neglect was mostly limited to first-b orn and newborn infants. Abuse was more likely to occur in some famili es than in others, and within abusive families, it was more likely to occur among closely-related females than among distantly-related femal es. Infants whose siblings had previously been abused were themselves especially at risk of abuse. Maternal health and infant sex were not r isk factors for abuse. Conclusions: This study provides the first evid ence of genealogical effects on infant abuse in nonhuman primates. Sev eral characteristics of infant abuse in socially living macaques sugge st that this phenomenon could represent a good animal model for studyi ng the etiology of child abuse and neglect. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.