Friedrich and Boriskin (1976) have argued that child characteristics may play a significant role in the development of parental abuse of the child. Theoretical advances during the mid-1970's through the 1980's describe the processes through which children may play a role in eliciting and maintaining their abuse. On the whole, however, recent findings do not indicate that children are instrumental in the etiology of abuse. Prospective investigations have revealed that other factors, particularly those involving parental and societal variables, exhibit greater explanatory power in the prediction of abuse. Although retrospective studies do suggest a link between certain child features (e.g., prematurity and low birthweight) and mistreatment, inherent limitations of this design strategy preclude the conclusion that such a relationship is causal. "Difficult" child characteristics observed in abused children are most often attributable to rather than precipitants of abuse. Theoretical conceptualizations now acknowledge the multiple causal pathways that lead to abuse. Individual, situational, and societal factors are insufficient markers for abuse when examined alone. Multidimensional models that emphasize the unique combinations and interactions of causative variables that precipitate abuse are the only viable conceptualizations of child maltreatment. 85 references