Infant abuse runs in families of group-living pigtail macaques

Objective: The aims of this study were to investigate genealogical and demographic influences on maternal abuse and neglect of offspring in pigtail macaques and identify some maternal and infant characteristics that may be risk factors for abuse or neglect. Method: Infant abuse and neglect were investigated in five large families of group-living pigtail macaques over a period of 33 years (5-7 generations). The data were obtained from the Animal Records of the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center. Results: Abuse and neglect are likely to be two distinct phenomena in pigtail macaques. Neglect was mostly limited to first-born and newborn infants. Abuse was more likely to occur in some families than in others, and within abusive families, it was more likely to occur among closely-related females than among distantly-related females. Infants whose siblings had previously been abused were themselves especially at risk of abuse. Maternal health and infant sex were not risk factors for abuse. Conclusions: This study provides the first evidence of genealogical effects on infant abuse in nonhuman primates. Several characteristics of infant abuse in socially living macaques suggest that this phenomenon could represent a good animal model for studying the etiology of child abuse and neglect. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.