The primary goal of this study was to assess the development of maltreated school-age children's ability to understand the thoughts, feelings, and points of view of others. Level of egocentrism and social perspective-taking coordination were assessed in a group of 49 maltreated and 49 demographically matched nonmaltreated children. Twenty-six elementary and 23 high school students in each group are individually interviewed and their responses to hypothetical interpersonal situations coded for egocentricity and level of perspective-taking ability. The findings revealed that the maltreated students were more egocentric and delayed in their perspective-taking development at both the elementary and high school level. Maltreated elementary school children with higher levels of egocentrism were more likely than their less egocentric peers to report higher perceived social competence and self-worth. Theoretical implications, within the context of an organic-developmental approach, and implications for future research and clinical interventions are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.28505 |
| Date | January 1994 |
| Creators | Peled, Terry |
| Contributors | Burack, J. A. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001425676, proquestno: NN00120, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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