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Emotional Competence Disorders and Social Communication in Young Victims of Abuse

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Abstract

This research analyses the emotional competence difficulties (measured through emotional intelligence and empathy) and social communication disorders of young victims of abuse. These minors are in residential care centres with protective measures after suffering maltreatment and/or neglect. The relation between their emotional competence and social communication is analysed, as well as the contribution of empathy and emotional intelligence in predicting their social communication. The results indicate that a lack of emotional competence is related to and can predict their difficulties in social communication. The study manifests a scarcity of emotional intelligence, affecting attention, emotional repair and clarity of feelings, as well as a deterioration in affective and cognitive empathy. The minors’ scarce ability to put themselves in the place of others, to understand others’ intentions and emotional states, limits their use of language in social interactions. The research stresses the need to set up intervention programmes aimed at training in interpersonal and intrapersonal emotional competences which can encourage social communication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Extremadura, Avenida de Elvas, s/n, Badajoz, 06006, Spain

    Juan Manuel Moreno-Manso, M Elena García-Baamonde, Eloísa Guerrero-Barona & José Manuel Pozueco-Romero

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  1. Juan Manuel Moreno-Manso
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  2. M Elena García-Baamonde
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  3. Eloísa Guerrero-Barona
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  4. José Manuel Pozueco-Romero
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Correspondence to Juan Manuel Moreno-Manso.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Moreno-Manso, J.M., García-Baamonde, M.E., Guerrero-Barona, E. et al. Emotional Competence Disorders and Social Communication in Young Victims of Abuse. J Child Fam Stud 26, 701–708 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0596-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0596-1

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