The self-report of personal punitive childhood experiences and those of siblings

Abstract

Earlier studies of punitive childhood experiences using the Assessing Environments III questionnaire found that subjects were twice as likely to report having a sibling who was abused as they were likely to label themselves abused. The present study investigated the extent to which descriptions of personal experiences and descriptions of experiences of a sibling were similar, and how those experiences were perceived. Results indicated that, although similar experiences of subjects and siblings were reported, labeling of these experiences as abusive remained discrepant. The perception of being deserving of punishment or the sibling being deserving of punishment was correlated negatively with the classifications of personal and sibling abuse, respectively. This pattern suggests that severely punitive events are evaluated as abusive as a function of whether they were perceived to be deserved.