Personality Development In Kids After Physical Abuse - Article Example

Article Summary This article examines the difference in personality traits in children who experienced physical abuse versus those children who did not experience any physical abuse. Physically abused children were found to be more aggressive, less socially interactive and have lower professional ambitions when compared to the control group. This difference in personality traits were also perceived by the teachers and the mothers of these children. The study was conducted on a small sample of 24 boys and 15 girls who were admitted in the hospital at least five and half years ago on account of physical abuse.

Matched control group was used to compare the differences between the abused and the control groups. The results of the study revealed that abused children are often apathetic and withdrawn and are not able to develop basic trust even after several years after the abuse incident. However, the authors found no difference in social maturity between the abused children and their controls which could be due to the fact that abused children have to develop these skills out of necessity. This study is significant because it emphasizes that the negative personality traits of abused children are not caused by the incident of physical abuse but from the disturbing environment that the child continues to grow in.

The article therefore underscores the importance of a long term child centered approach to prevent the negative effects of abuse from percolating into their later life. Works CitedOates, R.K. "Personality Development after Physical Abuse." Archives of Diseases of Childhood 59.2 (1984): 147-150. Print.