It has been suggested that maltreating parents display two forms of cognitive deficits that relate to their child's maltreatment. These are unrealistic expectations of their children's behavior and poor problem-solving ability in childrearing situations. This study documents the existence of these two deficits in a sample of maltreating versus comparison mothers. Using two measures of unrealistic expectations and a problem-solving inventory, we explored differences between two types of maltreating mothers (abuse vs. neglect). Results indicated that both groups of maltreating mothers showed significantly greater unrealistic; expectations and poorer problemsolving skills than did the comparison mothers. No differences were found between abusing and neglectful mothers. Implications for treatment, as well as difficulties in operationalizing the concept of "unrealistic expectations," are discussed.
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