Emotion management skills in sexually maltreated and nonmaltreated girls: A developmental psychopathology perspective

Research has demonstrated that children who experience familial sexual malt reatment are at risk for developing psychological difficulties characterize d by emotional and behavioral dysregulation. Surprisingly, however, little attention has been directed toward identifying processes in emotional devel opment that differ in maltreated and nonmaltreated children. From a develop mental psychopathology perspective, the present study examined emotion mana gement skills (i.e., emotional understanding, emotion regulation) in 21 sex ually maltreated girls and their nonmaltreated peers to determine how the e xperience of sexual maltreatment may interfere with normative emotional dev elopment. Findings indicated that sexually maltreated girls, in comparison to their nonmaltreated peers, demonstrate lower emotional understanding and decreased ability to regulate their emotions in accordance with cultural e xpectations. Further, maltreated girls expected less emotional support and more relational conflict from parents in response to sadness displays and f rom parents and peers in response to anger displays. These findings will be discussed from the functionalist approach to emotional development, emphas izing the importance of social context (e.g., maltreating, nonmaltreating) in the development of children's emotion management skills.