Risk factors for child psychological abuse

We review the risk and protective factors for child emotional abuse. Two ma in directions can be derived from this review. First and foremost, definiti onal issues must be resolved. Second, some clues as to important future res earch directions emerged from the current risk factor literature. Distal hi storical variables (e.g., relationships with fathers perceived as less cari ng, and being yelled at daily as a child), current enduring personality fac tors (e.g., aggression and hostility, neuroticism), environmental stressors (e.g., very low income) and proximal variables (verbal and physical aggres sion between parents) all appear to be related to child psychological abuse . Once definitional issues are resolved, models beginning with these risk f actors should be developed and tested. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All r ights reserved.