The Parental Empathy Measure: A New Approach to Assessing Child Maltreatment Risk

Abstract

The primary purpose of this thesis was to examine the role that parental empathy may play in the aetiology of child maltreatment (i.e., physical abuse and neglect). The foundations for this examination were established through a recognition in the literature that psychological maltreatment is a major factor in all forms of child maltreatment. Subsequently, theoretical and empirical investigations into alternative explanations of the underlying nature of psychological maltreatment supported a central premise that an impairment of parental empathy is the core issue of psychological maltreatment and, therefore, child maltreatment generally. To explore the role of empathy in child maltreatment, a four-stage model of parental empathy was proposed. The four stages of parental empathy defined in the model were attention to the child's signals, attributions, emotional responsiveness, and behavioural responsiveness. Based on this model, an instrument, the Parental Empathy Measure (PEM), was developed. The PEM was designed as a semi-structured interview with the aim of capturing both normative and qualitative information and thus maximising both empirical and clinical utility. ... In conclusion, impaired parental empathy, as defined in the present parental empathy model and measured by the PEM, was found to be strongly related to child maltreatment risk. Further, the PEM showed substantial promise as a reliable and valid tool in the assessment of child maltreatment risk. The implications of these findings for empathy research and theory, psychological maltreatment research and theory, the aetiology of child maltreatment, and clinical practice and policy are discussed in detail.