sky, Gaudin and Kilpatrick (1992) also feel that child neglect is probably related to mother characteristics. In their study, the authors used the Maternal Characteristics Scale to identify traits distinguishing samples of White neglectful mothers from non-neglectful ones. The scale was cross-validated with samples of mothers and practitioners.
Selection and phrasing of items were based on psychoanalytic conceptions of failures of maturation and related consequences. Relatedness, impulse control, lack of confidence, and verbal accessibility were found to be associated with vulnerability to becoming neglectful.
Self-esteem has often been observed to be related to child neglect. For example, Christensen, Brayden, Dietrich and McLaughlin (1994) studied self-concept of 459 women, who had either physically abused their children, neglected their children, or both physically abused and neglected their children. the measure of self-concept was the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. Findings of the study revealed that neglectful mothers had lower scores on scales measuring overall self-esteem, moral self-worth, personal and social adequacy, and perceptions of self-worth in family relationships than did matched non-abusive and non-neglectful mothers. Neglectful mothers also described their identity and behavior more negatively and had greater ge
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