| Child abuse is pervasive and has devastating effects on the lives of the abused children. Parents are the most common perpetrators of child abuse. However, little is known regarding the personality characteristics of abusive parents. Specifically, no previous studies to date have explored whether sexually abusive, physically abusive, and emotionally abusive parents may differ from each other and from non-abusive parents on the MMPI-2 clinical scales. This study was specifically designed to fill this important gap in the literature. MMPI-2 and demographic data were collected from 115 parents. The overall MANCOVA was not statistically significant (p = .52). Parental perpetrators of physical abuse scored significantly higher than parental perpetrators of emotional abuse on Scale 4 (Pd) (p < .04). No other statistically significant differences were detected. Trends were observed, with perpetrators of sexual abuse trending higher than the no abuse in the Scale 4 (Pd) (p = .08), and trended higher than the no abuse group (p = .08) and physical abuse group (p = .10) in Scale 7 (Pt) but these differences did not reach statistical significance. While the study was limited by a modest sample size, these results suggest the possibility that sexually abusive, physically abusive, and emotionally abusive parents may be more similar than different on MMPI-2 scales. Exploratory analysis revealed that the majority of perpetrators of child abuse did not exhibit clinical elevations. This indicates that the MMPI-2 alone cannot distinguish which parents are abusive in child custody cases. This has implications for the need to utilize a comprehensive evaluation in child custody samples, that include a range of assessment measures and a clinical interview. Future research should continue to explore the characteristics of perpetrators of child abuse, including examining other factors that may contribute to child abuse, including duration and frequency of abuse. |
