Risk Factors for Infant Abuse and Neglect in Group-Living Rhesus Monkeys

This study investigated maternal abuse and neglect of off-spring in a large population of rhesus monkeys over a period of 29 years. Abuse and neglect did not occur together and were associated with different risk factors. Infant abuse was concentrated in 8 of 57 families and among closely related fe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPsychological science Vol. 9; no. 2; pp. 143 - 145
Main Authors Maestripieri, Dario, Carroll, Kelly A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA Blackwell Publishing 01.03.1998
SAGE Publications
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Animal behavior
Animals
Child abuse
Child neglect
Infants
Monkeys
Monkeys & apes
Mothers
Predisposing factors
Primates
Psychology
Reproduction
Research facilities
Research Reports
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Summary:This study investigated maternal abuse and neglect of off-spring in a large population of rhesus monkeys over a period of 29 years. Abuse and neglect did not occur together and were associated with different risk factors. Infant abuse was concentrated in 8 of 57 families and among closely related females. Abuse was also repeated with successive offspring. In contrast, infant neglect was not affected by genealogical factors, was not repeated with successive offspring, and was displayed mostly by primiparous mothers. These results suggest that abuse and neglect may be different phenomena and that infant abuse in group-living monkeys could represent a good animal model for investigating the mechanisms underlying the intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment.
ISSN:0956-7976
1467-9280
DOI:10.1111/1467-9280.00027