|
|
Thesis/Dissertation Information
- Degree Disciplines:
- Psychology
Notes
- Abstract:
- Childhood trauma, abuse and neglect can lead to lifelong consequences in emotional, physical, and cognitive development. There are five main types of trauma which all yield unfavorable consequences later in life such difficulties in identifying and communicating personal feelings, lower grades in school, anxiety, and substance abuse. Being abused and neglected as a child make the individual four times more likely to neglect their child, suggesting the effects of trauma are lifelong and shape one’s development. Empathy is the ability to understand and share in another person’s emotional state. Childhood trauma impacts the development of empathy through environmental factors and modeling which are explained in Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory. The current study hypothesizes that higher total scores on childhood trauma would predict lower scores on the empathy scale and higher scores on the Sexual Abuse subscale would predictor lower scores on the empathy scale. One hundred and fifty-two participants from Barry University were given the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire- Short Form and the Basic Empathy Scale. It was found that total childhood trauma accounted for a significant amount of variance in empathy scores at p < .001, and total sexual abuse accounted for a significant amount of variance in empathy scores at p =.011. The hypotheses of the study were supported and it was found that experiencing childhood trauma or sexual abuse before the age of 18 predicts lower levels of empathy. This study links literature between empathy and trauma. The generational cycle of abuse can be terminated by teaching survivors of trauma empathetic skills to assist in treating their children with empathy.
- Thesis:
- Thesis (M.S.)--Barry University, 2018.
- Bibliography:
- Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-50).
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- Barry University
- Holding Location:
- Barry University Archives and Special Collections
- Rights Management:
- Copyright Melanie Lagerstedt. Permission granted to Barry University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
- Resource Identifier:
- RC569.5.C55 L34 2018_LagerstedtMelanie ( BU-Local )
- Classification:
- RC569.5.C55 L34 2018 ( lcc )
|
|
