The confluence of parental attributions, parental levels of empathy, and parental stress on risk of child maltreatment

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between several factors that predict parental risk for child abuse. This research explored how parental levels of empathy, parental attributions of their child's behavior, and parental stress combine to predict parental risk. The first objective was to explain the confluence of these factors. The second was to test for differences, if any, in the confluence of these factors by gender. The third was to provide recommendations for counselors, therapists, and counselor educators on assessment strategies that incorporate these factors to recognize risk of child physical abuse.;One hundred and twenty-five parents completed the Child Abuse Prevention Inventory (CAPI), the Adult-Adolescent Parent Inventory (AAPI-2), the Parental Stress Inventory/Short Form (PSI/SF), and the Parental Attribution Test/Revised (PAT/R). The CAPI scores served as a continuous variable to designate potential to abuse and a dichotomous variable to designate the parents by groups as high-risk, at-risk, and low-risk for abuse. Data analyses were designed to test for relationships among the variables, to test for group differences on the criterion variable, to determine which of the three factors, in which linear combination, best predict child abuse potential, and to test for gender differences.;For these parents, there were significant differences between the low-risk, at-risk, and high-risk groups on perceived total stress. The total stress increased as risk increased. The between group differences on parental empathy were also significant; however, the mean differences were only significant between the low-risk and high-risk groups. For the total group, the regression analysis for PSI/SF parental distress, empathy, and attributions predicted 41.9% of the potential risk, empathy and attributions were not significant. There were differences on gender. For these fathers, total stress was the only significant predictor of potential risk for abuse. However, with personal distress in the regression rather than total stress, all the independent variables contributed significantly to the prediction of risk for the mothers such that as distress increased, empathy decreased, and attributions of perceived child control increased. There was a significant difference in the contribution to risk of personal distress for the women as compared to the men. The implication for counselors and therapists is that mothers at-risk of abuse may exhibit greater personal distress and elevated levels of emotionality than fathers. The differences may be attributable to a difference in the way meanings are constructed and processed for stress by gender.