Consistency and change in the behavior of rhesus macaque abusive mothers with successive infants

• Published in: Developmental psychobiology Vol. 34; no. 1; pp. 29 - 35
• Main Authors: Maestripieri, Dario, Tomaszycki, Michelle, Carroll, Kelly A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.01.1999
• Subjects: Aggression - psychology; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Chi-Square Distribution; Data Collection; Female; infant abuse; Macaca mulatta; Male; Maternal Behavior - psychology; nonhuman primates; Parenting - psychology; parenting style; Recurrence; Sex Factors
• ISSN: 0012-1630; 1098-2302
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2302(199901)34:1<29::AID-DEV5>3.0.CO;2-U

This study investigated the abusive behavior and parenting styles of 7 rhesus macaque mothers with infants born in 2 consecutive years. All subjects lived in captive social groups and were observed during the first 12 weeks of infant life. With the exception of 1 individual, mothers were generally consistent in the frequency with which they abused their successive infants. Similarities were also found in the temporal course of infant abuse, the use of the most common pattern of abuse, and some measures of parenting style, notably those reflecting maternal protectiveness. The findings of this study are discussed in relation to different hypothesized relationships between infant abuse and parenting style in macaques. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 34: 29–35, 1999