Clinical judgment of abuse-proneness based on parent-child interactions.

Professionals skilled in working with abusive families and a sample of university undergraduates viewed video tapes of abusive and matched control parent-child dyads interacting in a free play setting. Subjects were asked to indicate which of each pair of dyads was abusive and the reasons for their judgment. Performance of both groups was at chance levels. Implications of these results for the prediction and prevention of child abuse and the training of clinicians are discussed.