A multimethod approach to the assessment of physical abuse

Numerous and heterogeneous symptoms of maladjustment have been documented among victims of physical abuse. Much of the well-controlled, theoretically guided research is rooted in methodology designed to search for group differences between abused children and a comparison group. Given the recognized methodological problems in constructing appropriate comparison groups for abused children, this study is designed to examine alternative methodological approaches. The purpose of the study is to utilize a case study to illustrate the utility of a multimethod approach to highlight intraindividual variation in the impact of abuse. This study of physically abused twin boys demonstrates that differential patterns of findings are revealed by standardized assessment in comparison to behavioral observation. The results underscore intraindividual variation in the impact of abuse. It is suggested that innate temperamental factors interact with parent-child interaction patterns to account for such intraindividual variation.