Understanding the social world around us is important to function in today’s society. Gaining understanding can be achieved through cognitive empathy. In the current study, the main question ‘Is...Show moreUnderstanding the social world around us is important to function in today’s society. Gaining understanding can be achieved through cognitive empathy. In the current study, the main question ‘Is the effect of acute stress on the level of cognitive empathy in female students moderated by experienced childhood trauma?’ has been examined in 119 female students between 18 and 25 years old (M = 21.19, SD = 1.66). The relationship between acute stress, cognitive empathy and experienced childhood trauma has been examined with three sub-questions that focus on 1. the effect of acute stress on cognitive empathy, 2. the effect of subjective acute stress on the level of cognitive empathy and 3. Is the effect of acute stress on cognitive empathy moderated by experienced childhood trauma? These questions have been answered with an experimental study with a between-subjects design and a sequentially assigned stress or no stress manipulation provided by the Trier Social Stress Test (Kirschbaum et al., 1993). Before and during the manipulation acute stress has been measured with the Visual Analogue Scale (Freyd, 1923). Cognitive empathy has been measured with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001) and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Thombs et al., 2009) was used for measuring experienced childhood trauma. The current study shows no significant results for the main question and its sub-questions. This contributes to other studies who used the RMET to measure cognitive empathy and didn’t find any significant results, meaning they should use a different instrument in future research. In addition, it is important to re-examine the main research question using physiological measures of acute stress. This study contributes to the scientific knowledge of this moderation effect, but more research is needed to get a better understanding and help for people who experienced childhood trauma.Show less
Child maltreatment is a major problem with lifelong consequences on the physical and psychological well-being of children. With an increase in parenting stress since COVID-19, this study aimed to...Show moreChild maltreatment is a major problem with lifelong consequences on the physical and psychological well-being of children. With an increase in parenting stress since COVID-19, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between parenting stress and child maltreatment, with attention to the role of childhood trauma in parents. The research question was: How is parenting stress associated with child maltreatment, and is this association influenced by childhood trauma in parents? Data from a specific group of parents (N = 1046; 65.1% mothers), who were recently reported to Veilig Thuis due to concerns of domestic violence or child maltreatment, were included in this study. They filled out self-report questionnaires about parenting stress, child maltreatment and childhood trauma. Data were analysed using simple and multiple regression analyses. The distribution of the data is skewed to the right, indicating a substantial group reporting minimal or no child maltreatment or/and childhood trauma. The results showed that higher levels of parenting stress are related to higher levels of child maltreatment. Additionally, the results indicate that parents who report negative parenting practices show higher levels of parenting stress compared to parents who do not report negative parenting practices. Considering the role of childhood trauma in parents, the results showed no impact on the relationship between parenting stress and child maltreatment. However, the results showed positive significant associations between parenting stress, child maltreatment and childhood trauma in parents. This indicates that higher levels of parenting stress and childhood trauma in parents are associated with increased child maltreatment, and higher levels of childhood trauma in parents are associated with increased parenting stress. These results suggest that early identification of parenting stress may play a crucial role in prevention and intervention of child maltreatment.Show less
