AIDING THE NEGLECTED by EU Research

Getting to the core of emotional maltreatment Emotional maltreatment is known to have a damaging impact on children’s mental health, yet it remains extremely difficult to identify and prevent. We spoke to Dr Iris Lavi about her research into the roots of emotional maltreatment, which could hold important implications for the development of effective intervention programmes A stable, emotionally

supportive relationship with their parents is crucial to child development, particularly during their early years. The vast majority of parents are of course committed to supporting their children, yet there are also cases where parents neglect their emotional needs, as Dr Iris Lavi explains. “It may be that parents are depressed, or have other psychological difficulties that prevent them from attending emotionally to their child, and from bonding with them,” she says. Based at the University of Haifa’s Centre for Research and Study of the Family, Dr Lavi is investigating a number of significant questions around the emotional maltreatment of children, building first of all from a clear understanding of what it means. “First of all, emotional maltreatment is a pattern of behaviour. It’s not an isolated occurrence that happens every once in a while, but a pattern of behaviour in the relationship between the child and the parent,” she stresses.

This could mean name-calling or aggressive behaviour from parents towards their own children, which often leads to a cold and alienating atmosphere in the home that affects a child’s confidence and sociability. This in turn can have a serious impact on the mental health of the child. “A child who has been emotionally maltreated may lack confidence and show signs of depression. Typically these children have an inability to form a positive self-image,” explains Dr Lavi. These cases are often difficult to identify however, as there may not be clear physical signs. “Sometimes these children are physically, educationally and medically well cared for,” continues Dr Lavi. “Also, there is a continuum of what is thought to be normative behaviour, both culturally and individually, while a child may have grown familiar with an emotionally abusive environment and have come to think of it as normal. They may not know that it’s not normal to live in such an environment of emotional neglect and abuse.”

Identification and prevention The task of identifying cases of emotional maltreatment is correspondingly complex, and often falls to teachers and social workers. This is a major part of the motivation behind Dr Lavi’s work in analysing the effectiveness of identification, prevention and intervention programmes. “I aim to draw attention to this phenomenon of emotional maltreatment, and to make sure that people know to look for it and how to look for it,” she outlines. This is a relatively neglected area in comparison to physical abuse for example, yet Dr Lavi says it can have a serious long-term impact on children. “We aim to understand how big an impact emotional maltreatment has on families, and to make sure that people know the consequences on the child and their development,” she continues. “I’m currently looking at the emotional processes of parents, trying to understand whether there are certain triggers to emotional maltreatment.” This may be affected by the parents’ own childhoods, their experiences growing up, and

Although child maltreatment is a very complicated, multifactorial social phenomena, we can still look at it at a very

basic psychological process level. If we can change these processes at the micro level, at the individual level, then maybe we can generate a change

EU Research

their own socio-economic circumstances. Parents may have experienced a similar environment during their own childhood, which may be a factor in their approach to parenting, while other groups may be more likely to emotionally maltreat their children, a topic which was investigated previously. “Researchers looked at whether certain intervention or prevention programmes could prevent the occurrence of emotional maltreatment in certain populations. For example, a population of parents who have had episodes of depression, or people who have lived below the poverty line,” outlines Dr Lavi. Effective intervention programmes can help to break the cycle of emotional maltreatment down the generations, a topic which has also attracted attention. “Researchers looked at whether these intervention programmes could prevent the occurrence of emotional maltreatment,” says Dr Lavi. There are also cases where there are deeper causes behind emotional maltreatment, whether it be psychological problems or other issues that prevent parents from bonding with their children. Dr Lavi aims to probe deeper in this area, gaining new insights into the root causes of emotional maltreatment. “We’ve seen that parents who emotionally maltreat their children are different with regards to their emotional processes, compared to those parents who don’t,” she says. One of the key questions in this area of research is how the way parents handle their

own emotions affects the likelihood of them then emotionally maltreating their children. “The reason this is important is that child maltreatment is a very complex phenomena, it has more than just one cause,” explains Dr Lavi. “It has social roots, it has familial roots, it relates to the community system and the prevailing social norms.”

Intervention A deeper understanding of the basic processes that lead to emotional maltreatment could also help in the design of effective intervention programmes. For example, if a parent has difficulties in processing emotional information, then helping them do that better could have a wider impact. “Although child maltreatment is a very complicated, multi-factorial social phenomena, we can still look at it at a very basic psychological process level. I am looking at emotional reactivity, emotional regulation and threat perception,” continues Dr Lavi. “If we can change these processes at the micro level, at the individual level, then maybe we can generate a change that will move things in a better direction,” says Dr Lavi. Ultimately, Dr Lavi believes that everybody could benefit from learning to be better parents. “We can always do better and make ourselves more available to our children,” she stresses. “We can always be more in tune with what they need, more nurturing, better able to help children fulfill their potential and be happy contributors to society.”

Aiding the Neglected Meta-Analysis of Emotional Maltreatment Prevention and Intervention Programs

Project Objectives

The objectives of the study is to better understand the emotional processes of family members, and how these processes contribute to risk and resilience of families. I am asking whether learning how parents and children process emotional information could help us understand whether the family can overcome normative and extraordinary challenges.

Project Funding

• T he Haruv Institute Post-Doctoral Fellowship • The Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship, European Union • University of Haifa Starting Grant EU contribution: EUR 264 711jkkio

Project Partners

• Professor Emily Ozer, University of California Berkeley • Professor James Gross, Stanford University • Professor Lynn Fainsilber Katz, University of Washington • Professor Miri Cohen, University of Haifa • Dr. Ruth Berkowitz, University of Haifa • P rofessor Adital Ben-Ari, University of Haifa • P rofessor Asher Ben-Arieh, Hebrew University • Dr. Stephanie Romney, Parent Training Institute, San Francisco • Professor Alicia Lieberman, University of California, San Francisco

Contact Details

Project Coordinator, Dr Iris Lavi The Center for Research and Study of the Family, School of Social Work, University of Haifa Eshkol Tower, 5th floor The University of Haifa 199 Aba Khoushy Ave Mount Carmel 31905, Haifa Israel T: +972 4-824-0812 E: haifa.parent.child@gmail.com W: http://sw2.haifa.ac.il/en/socialworkhome-en-2; http://family.haifa.ac.il/en/; http://irislavi01.wixsite.com/home-page Dr Iris Lavi

Dr Iris Lavi is a faculty member at The Center for Research and Study of the Family, School of Social Work, University of Haifa. Her research interests include various aspects of parenting, child development and positive psychology. She studies processes that lead to the development of resilience in children, parental influence on the wellbeing of children and the effects of stress on children and families.