In search of child abuse potential: real life

Annually 30 out of 1,000 children in the Netherlands suffer from child
maltreatment. Previous research has indicated that mothers at risk for
maltreating their children (often assessed with the Child Abuse Potential
Inventory) show increased physiological responses to infant crying sounds and
have lower levels of empathy than low risk individuals. However, little
research has been done on the neural responses to infant crying and the neural
base of empathy in individuals at risk for child abuse. As child abuse is a
major cause for deviant child development, the study of the physiological
mechanisms underlying child abuse is crucial.

The aim of the study is to gain more insight in the physiological mechanisms
that are involved in child abuse.

Two groups of subjects will participate in two laboratory sessions, the first
group is at risk for child abuse, the second group has low risk for child
abuse. Risk for child abuse will be measured with the Child Abuse Potential
Inventory. In the first laboratory session, heart rate, skin conductance and
hand grip strength will be assessed when participants are listening to infant
crying and laughing. Heart rate, skin conductance and caregiving behaviors will
be assessed when participants take care of an infant simulator. A device within
the doll records how the simulator is handled, for example whether the
simulator has been shaken, received head support or was placed in the wrong
position. The participants will be asked to take the infant simulator home and
to take care of it for 24 hours. Buccal swaps will be collected to determine
OXTR genotype. Neural responses to infant crying and laughing will be measured
with fMRI in the second laboratory session. In addition, the neural base of
emotion understanding will be examined with fMRI. Participants will look at
pictures of adults and infant and they have to infer the mental state.

The first laboratory session takes 2,5 hours, the second session 1,5 hours. The
participant will be left with the infant simulator for 90 minutes. They will be
instructed to take care of the infant simulator and grip strenght, heart-rate
and skin conductance will be assessed. The CAP Inventory will be used to
measure child abuse risk. This is a frequently used questionnaire is research
an clinical settings. The subjects will be asked to fill in two questionnaires
about their own childhood experiences. After the labsession, participants are
asked to take the infant simulator home and take care of it for 24 hours. In
the second session participants will be scanned with functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) while they are listening to infant crying and laughing
and while they are performing empathy tasks. There are no known risks
associated with participating in an fMRI study. Numerous human subjects have
undergone magnetic resonance studies without apparent harmful consequences.
Some people become claustrophobic while inside the magnet and in these cases
the study will be terminated immediately at the subject's request. The only
absolute contraindications to MRI studies are the presence of intracranial or
intraocular metal, or a pacemaker. Relative contraindications include pregnancy
and claustrophobia and subjects with one of these contra-indications will be
excluded from the study.