Self-esteem and stress as factors in abuse of children.

A comparison of stress and self-esteem as made between a group of 23 couples in treatment who had abused their children and 23 control couples who were matched for age, race, sex, education, and occupation. Stress was measured by the Recent Life Changes Questionnaire. Self-esteem was measured by a synthesis of 38 items selected by mental health professionals from the Clarke Parent/Child Relations Questionnaire and the Self-description and Mate Description Form. Analysis of variance showed that couples who had abused their children had significantly greater stress than control couples. However, there was no significant difference between the groups on the measure of self-esteem. There was also no interaction effect of stress with self-esteem on abuse. While it seems well established that stress is a major contributor in child abuse, the interaction of stress with personality factors of parents who abuse their children remains uncertain.