Evolutionary-adaptive and nonadaptive causes of infant attack/desertion in mammals: Toward a systematic classification of child maltreatment.
Psychiatry Clin Neurosci
; 74(10): 516-526, 2020 Oct.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32592505
ABSTRACT
Behaviors comparable to human child maltreatment are observed widely among mammals, in which parental care is mandatory for offspring survival. This article first reviews the recent findings on the neurobiological mechanisms for nurturing (infant caregiving) behaviors in mammals. Then the major causes of attack/desertion toward infants (conspecific young) in nonhuman mammals are classified into five categories. Three of the categories are 'adaptive' in terms of reproductive fitness (i) attack/desertion toward non-offspring; (ii) attack/desertion toward biological offspring with low reproductive value; and (iii) attack/desertion toward biological offspring under unfavorable environments. The other two are nonadaptive failures of nurturing motivation, induced by (iv) caregivers' inexperience; or (v) dysfunction in caregivers' brain mechanisms required for nurturing behavior. The proposed framework covering both adaptive and nonadaptive factors comprehensively classifies the varieties of mammalian infant maltreatment cases and will support the future development of tailored preventive measures for each human case. Also included are remarks that are relevant to interpretation of available animal data to humans (1) any kind of child abuse/neglect is not justified in modern human societies, even if it is widely observed and regarded as adaptive in nonhuman animals from the viewpoint of evolutionary biology; (2) group-level characteristics cannot be generalized to individuals; and (3) risk factors are neither deterministic nor irreversible.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Comportamento Paterno
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Área Pré-Óptica
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Comportamento Animal
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Adaptação Fisiológica
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Maus-Tratos Infantis
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Evolução Biológica
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Comportamento Materno
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Motivação
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
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Prognostic_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Animals
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Child
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Humans
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article