Parents and/or caregivers at high risk for abuse are characterized as having unsatisfied needs, difficulty in forming adequate interpersonal relationships (friends, associates, fellow employees), unrealistic expectations from the child and a lack of nuturing experience which may involve neglect or abuse in the abuser's own childhood. In regards to the child being abused, several predisposing factors include the temperament, personality and activity levels of the child, sensitivity to parental domination and a need for special physical or emotional care resulting from an illness. Interestingly, on a psychological level, recent research has shown that child abuse may be closely linked with developing schizophrenia, for as Rick Nauert relates, quoting from researcher Paul Hammersley of the University of Manchester in England, "two-thirds of people diagnosed as schizophrenic have suffered physical or sexual abuse"...

This is based on a number of studies which revealed "childhood... sexual or physical abuse in the history of the majority of psychiatric patients," most of whom are haunted by hallucinations and flashbacks, the "voices that bullied them as their abuser did, thus causing paranoia and a mistrust of people close to them" (2006, Internet). Obviously, child abuse is a very serious problem in the United States and elsewhere in the world and certainly deserves more study and research in order to determine its exact nature, causes and consequences.
References

Nauert, Rick. (2006). "Child Abuse Can Cause Schizophrenia." Internet. Retrieved at http://psychcentral.com/news/2006/06/13/child-abuse-can-cause-schizophrenia.

What is Child Abuse and Neglect?" (2006). Child Welfare Information Gateway. Internet. Retrieved at http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/whatiscan.cfm.