Maltreatment and internal representations of relationships: Core relationship themes in the narratives of abused and neglected preschoolers

This study examined whether the predominance of particular themes in maltre ated pre-schoolers' stories about relationships is related to type of maltr eatment they experienced The MacArthur Story Stem Battery was administered to 49 maltreated and 22 non-maltreated children. Children's representations of self and other were extracted from the resulting stories using the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme Method. Significant differences were found among the physically abused, sexually abused, neglected, and comparison sub groups with respect to the predominance of specific relationship themes in their stories. Both physically abused and neglected children represented th e self as angry and opposing others more frequently than non-maltreated chi ldren. Neglected children represented others as hurt, sad, or anxious more frequently than both abused and non-maltreated children. Compared with all other children, sexually abused children represented others more frequently as liking them, and compared with physically abused children, expressed mo re frequent wishes to be close to others. This study supports the hypothesi s that maltreated children's internal representations of relationships are related to their experiences of specific types of maltreatment.