Maternal inconsistent socialization: An interactional pattern with maltreated children

Most child abuse episodes take place in the context of child‐rearing conflicts. Parents show a lack of competence in appropriately solving these conflicts, producing an escalating phenomenon which eventually ends in verbal and/or physical aggression towards the child. The main purpose of this study is to test the role of inconsistent socialization in the development of prolonged dyadic coercive exchanges. Observational information from 15 mother‐child dyads referred for psychological treatment for abuse and 15 non‐clinical dyads was obtained at home. Results show the mother's indiscriminate attention following prosocial child behaviour was significantly higher in abusive dyads, while disruptive child behaviour was followed by the mother's discriminate and consistent attention. These findings are discussed in terms of the context of uncertainty that maternal care sets for these children and how their aversive behaviour is functional in reducing uncertainty. Consequently, both mother and child are enmeshed in these dysfunctional ways of relating, which will affect the development of the child's psychological functioning. An analysis of family interaction to detect characteristic patterns of incompetence offers specific tools to treat and prevent child abuse.