Emotional abuse and behavior problems in Chinese preschool-aged children: The role of hair cortisol concentrations.

Abstract

Although the relationships between emotional abuse and behavior problems have been explored for several decades, the pathways from emotional abuse to behavior problems are still unclear, particularly in the Chinese cultural context. The present study aimed to verify the relationships between emotional abuse and behavior problems and examine the role of hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) in these relationships in a sample of Chinese preschool-aged children. Data were collected from 218 children (Ages 3 years and 6 months–7 years), emotional abuse and behavior problems were reported by parents, including the parental version of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Child Abuse Screening Tools and the Child Behavior Checklist, and HCC were analyzed in the lab with a mass spectrometer. The results showed that emotional abuse was positively associated with behavior problems and HCC, and HCC were negatively associated with behavior problems. Moreover, HCC partially mediated the relationship between emotional abuse and behavior problems. The findings suggest that emotional abuse may overact the stress response systems; the HCC may be a mechanism linking emotional abuse to behavior problems. Additionally, the significance and limitations of the results were discussed.