Narrative representations of caregivers and emotion dysregulation as predictors of maltreated children's rejection by peers

This study examined whether maltreated children were more likely than nonma ltreated children to develop poor-quality representations of caregivers and whether these representations predicted children's rejection by peers. A n arrative task assessing representations of mothers and fathers was administ ered to 76 maltreated and 45 nonmaltreated boys and girls (8-12 years old). Maltreated children's representations were more negative/constricted and l ess positive/coherent than those of nonmaltreated children. Maladaptive rep resentations were associated with emotion dysregulation, aggression, and pe er rejection, whereas positive/coherent representations were related to pro social behavior and peer preference. Representations mediated maltreatment' s effects on peer rejection in part by undermining emotion regulation. Find ings suggest that representations of caregivers serve an important regulato ry function in the peer relationships of at-risk children.